WoF: Event Horizon
by RaiderPower26
Summary: Two years after the War of SandWing Succession, Tualang is on a mission to uncover the secrecy behind his past. Lies, deception, and secrets are still rampant across post-war Pyrrhia and a massive conspiracy could bring everything the RainWing hybrid and his newfound companions ever knew crashing to the ground. As the truth is unveiled, Tualang must embrace the dragon he truly is.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

~Eight years ago~

Deep in the forest, a SeaWing pushed his way through the trees, carrying a smooth white egg in his claws. His steel-blue scales stood out against the sea of dark green foliage and his emerald-green eyes seemed to glow in the dark.

With a sigh, he found a spot near a tree and sat down, placing the egg next to him.

'What if this thing hatches in the next few minutes? Should I wake her?' Thoughts like this raced through his mind as he looked up at the night sky. The three moons were nearly full, but the brightest night was still a few days away.

Looking back down at the egg, the SeaWing thought about his situation. He fled to the rainforest almost two years ago. He was undoubtedly labeled a deserter in the Kingdom of the Sea by now.

But it was worth it. While he lived in a relatively isolated part of the forest, far from the village, he managed to forge a relationship with a rather beautiful RainWing by the name of Grove.

Long story short, guess who the egg belonged to?

He scooted the egg closer and stared at it, gently nudging it with his snout. As he pulled away, he noticed a crack in the white shell. 'Oh no. I didn't just break it, did I?' He thought to himself fearfully, freezing in place.

Upon closer examination, more cracks were starting to appear on their own. The SeaWing jumped up and looked around, wondering if he should get Grove. However, before he had the chance, the egg broke open to reveal a little RainWing, staring up at the SeaWing with a curious expression on his face.

The larger dragon blinked and got close to the hatchling, looking him in the eyes. "H-Hey, buddy." He said kindly, a happy smile forming on his face. A quick look revealed that this RainWing was nearly completely ordinary. However, the SeaWing quickly noticed the gills on the colorful dragon's neck.

He brushed a talon against his son's neck, eliciting a small giggle from the dragonet. "Well, looks like we know how much of a SeaWing you are." He mused, not noticing any other features. This dragonet was completely ordinary, save for the gills.

"And you have my eyes!" He said cheerfully, noting the RainWing's deep emerald green eyes.

The SeaWing gently picked up the younger dragon, but as he did, an uncomfortable feeling went down his spine. He set the dragonet back down, much to the RainWing's confusion.

'No. He can't be.' He thought in disbelief. 'Nononononononono.'

But he felt it. The indescribable feeling of strange power radiating from this dragonet's claws…

Damn his SeaWing heritage!

He started to panic. Almost two years spent in the rainforest just to end up with this mess.

'Word is going to get out about an animus RainWing hybrid fathered by a runaway SeaWing.' He realized and a pang of fear shot through his chest.

'And Coral will tear up the rainforest looking for her new weapon.'

The SeaWing looked down, noticing the colorful little dragonet hugging his steel blue forearm. "Da." The RainWing squeaked, looking up at him with a silly smile plastered across his face tiny face.

"Let's go, little guy." He said calmly, picking him up and carrying him in his arms.

The dragonet let out a small yawn and closed his eyes, curling up in his father's arms. He didn't want to do this, but he had no other choice. He had to leave the forest immediately.

Grove would never get to know her son.

It hurt him to think about it, but he had to leave his love to keep her safe. As he flew through the forest to the RainWing village, he kept taking idle glances down to the child in his arms. This dragonet would have to find a new family, one that didn't know of his powers.

And so, the SeaWing snuck into the hatchery and left the sleeping dragonet with a hastily-written note placed under him.

"Please take care of my son, for I can not. Queen Coral would have my head."

With tears forming at the corners of his eyes, the SeaWing leaned in and kissed his son on the forehead before turning and bolting out of the hatchery, taking off and flying away from the rainforest as fast as he could.

'I'm sorry, Grove. I'll come back for you once this is all over.'


	2. Chapter 1: Between the Trees

_**Chapter 1**_

 _Between the Trees_

Tualang was many things. A good cook was not one of them.

With a frustrated sigh, he tossed a mess of what was supposed to be banana bread out into the woods from his hut window. Some animals would clean that up for him later.

Shaking his head, he grabbed a large bowl and a clawful of strawberries, cutting off the leaves and mashing the fruit into a liquid. Humming, he poured the mashed up strawberry slush into a container and shook it up.

Tualang removed the lid and glanced inside and nodded proudly at his handiwork. Next up was the important part.

He set the drink aside and grabbed some medicine from a small bag next to him. He crushed it up and mixed it with the strawberry shake.

"There we go." Tualang said under his breath, shaking it a bit more to mix in the medicine. Taking another satisfied look at his work, he grabbed a straw and put it in the drink before bringing it to another room in the hut.

His girlfriend, Grapevine, looked up and gave him a weak smile from her bed as he entered.

"Hey, Tu." She greeted in a raspy voice.

"Hey, Grape. I made you something." Tualang said, handing her the strawberry shake. "I tried to make banana bread, but… you know me." He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Grapevine gave a weak laugh and took a sip from the straw. "Mm. Delicious." She said, smiling up at him. She still had her blankets covering most of her body, but it seemed she had enough strength to sit up.

"I mixed your medicine into the shake. I know you don't like the taste of the pills by themself. I asked around and one of the healers said it still works if I crush it up and put it in a drink." Tualang explained, nervously tapping his talons against the hut's wooden floor.

Grapevine had been sick for nearly two months by now. The odd part, though, was that none of the healers knew what was wrong with her. She had some sort of illness they'd never seen before.

Some days, she'd have the strength to get out of bed and walk around, sing songs, and have sun time. Others, she was riddled with coughing fits, vomiting, and would refuse to eat anything. However, whatever it was wasn't contagious. Tualang was safe, so he decided to look after her.

It pained him to see his love like this. The usually bright and optimistic RainWing was now reduced to a bedridden mess.

Most RainWings avoided him because they thought the odd slits and ridges on his neck were strange. Tualang had no idea what they were, they were just there.

Grapevine was one of the few who deeply cared about him, other than his adoptive parents Stick and Ivy, and even they were more like siblings to him anyway.

Grapevine took another sip of the shake and smiled at him again. "It's delicious, Tu. Thanks."

Tualang smiled back and sat next to her. "How do you feel today?" He asked, grasping her talons, looking into her beautiful light green eyes.

"I… think I can walk." Grapevine stammered, cautiously climbing out of bed, leaning on Tualang for support. Her legs trembled a little as she set her weight on them. She hadn't gotten out of bed since last week.

"Don't rush it, Grape. I got you." He said calmly, lifting her arm over his neck to support her. Grapevine grabbed her shake as they left.

They slowly walked out of the room and eventually out the front door.

Tualang led her around his porch and to a wooden staircase connected to the hut, leading up above the trees to a wooden platform he built for both sun time and stargazing. It wasn't quite sun time yet, but Tualang wanted Grapevine to see the sky for the first time since the previous week.

"Here we are." Tualang said with a smile as they reached the platform. Grapevine let go of him and carefully padded over to the edge, sitting down with her tail dangling towards the trees below.

"Haven't seen the sky in days." Grapevine rasped, looking at him with a happy smile. "I forgot how nice it was up here."

Tualang smiled and sat next to her, gently embracing her with a wing.

It was just before noon, judging by the sun's position in the sky.

Grapevine took another sip of her shake before setting the cup back down next to her.

"...I'm not getting any better, am I?" She asked in a near whisper, looking down.

Tualang's eyes widened and he darted his gaze toward her. "Ðon't say that." He said, a bit of a shocked look on his face.

Grapevine gave a sad chuckle and took another sip. "I'm not just saying that, Tu. I've been sick for two months and it's only gotten worse since day one. If I've really improved, I wouldn't hurt so much every single day. I wouldn't still be taking the medicine."

The male RainWing scooted closer to her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Please, Grapevine. Don't talk like that." He said quietly. "I don't want to think about losing you. I don't know what I'd…" Tualang trailed off and Grapevine hugged him tighter.

"Okay, I'll stop." Grapevine said, closing her eyes as she felt some tears well up. "Just promise me this- If I am in my final weeks, will you be with me until the end?" She asked.

Tualang nodded almost right after she asked. "I will. I promise you I will. We'll see this through together."

Grapevine smiled and gave him a small kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."

The two went back inside a short time later and Grapevine went back to bed, already deprived of energy. Tualang gently helped her back in bed and gave her new blankets and she fell asleep seconds later. With a sigh, he left the room and went back to his own.

Suddenly, a knock resounded from the entrance to Tualang's hut. Grumbling in frustration, he slowly made his way to the door. 'Probably another medicine delivery.' He thought.

As he opened the door, the sleek face of a crimson SkyWing smiled back at him.

"Hey!" She asked cheerfully, a small sack in her claws and a few more hooked to some sort vest. Yep, this was medicine. "I've got a delivery for a 'Grapevine' from the healers." She handed it to him and he took it, placing it on the table inside.

"Thanks." Tualang said gratefully, nodding at her. The SkyWing nodded back and was about to fly off when Tualang chimed in again. "Hey, wait. What's a SkyWing doing shuttling medicine for RainWing healers? If you don't mind me asking."

The SkyWing grinned and turned to face him again. "I'm learning from them. I plan to become a healer in the Sky Kingdom, so I've been visiting a bunch of different tribes and towns in the past few years to learn their techniques. Ready for any situation, right?" She said, flicking her tail. "I mean, just in case any SkyWing accidentally eats a fruit they didn't know was poisonous or something. Things that normal healers back in the Sky Kingdom wouldn't be prepared for."

Tualang nodded in understanding, his tail coiling up by his side. "Interesting. So someday I'll get word of some SkyWing super doctor in the mountains, right?" He grinned.

She laughed and gave a small shrug. "Something like that, yeah. I hope so, anyway." She extended a claw for him to shake, which he did. "Name's Sol. And you are…" Sol trailed off.

"The name's-" He started but Sol silenced him.

"Hush. Let me guess. Umm... Fruit Eater." She tried, clearly not very familiar with RainWing names. Tualang frowned.

"No? Really? You look like a Fruit Eater. Alright, let me try again. Hmm…" The SkyWing tapped her chin. "He-Who-Has-Slits-In-His-Neck"

Tualang grumbled half in embarrassment, half in annoyance.

"Alright! I give up. Tell me."

"It's Tualang. But I prefer Tua." He answered, flicking his tail.

"Tua, huh?" Sol asked, thinking for a moment. "That's not a bad name, actually. At least it's not something like Slug or Root." She laughed, eliciting a small chuckle from Tualang.

"I guess you're right." He admitted. "Nice to meet you, Sol."

"Likewise, Tua. Say, I know two NightWings that live near here. Do the names Nova and Orion sound familiar to you?" Sol asked, to which Tualang shook his head.

"Oh. That's a shame. They're really quite nice." She said before her face lit up a few moments later. "I know! What do you say I bring them over here later this evening for a short bit? We can all get to know each other!"

Tualang paused, glancing back at Grapevine's room. Maybe she could use the extra company. She didn't get out much as of late thanks to her condition. "Uh…" He said, turning his emerald green eyes back on Sol.

He thought for a few good moments before letting a smile find its way across his face. "Sure, why not. We'd love to meet them."

"Great!" Sol exclaimed, flapping her wings a few times in joy. "Well, I have some more stuff do deliver. See you this evening, Fruit Eater!" She called before leaping off the platform.

Tualang rolled his eyes. "It's Tualang!" He called in slight annoyance, but there was a clear bit of amusement in his voice.


	3. Chapter 2: Comfort

_**Chapter 2**_

 _Comfort_

Just before sundown, a knock came from the front door again. Tualang stepped over to the door and opened it. Standing on his porch were Sol and two NightWings about the same size as Tualang and Sol.

"Ah, hey. You must be the two Sol was telling me about earlier. Come on in!" He greeted, stepping aside. The other three dragons nodded and entered, closing the door behind them.

The first of the NightWings had dark purple scales over most of her body, save for her dark grey underbelly. In addition, there were two tiny silver scales at the corners of her eyes, which Tualang had to squint to see.

The second NightWing was almost the opposite, with primarily black scales and a dark purple underbelly. He had no silver near his eyes.

"You must be Tualang." The first NightWing said, extending a claw. "I'm Supernova, but everyone just calls me Nova." Tualang shook her claw with a smile on his face.

The male NightWing sighed and reluctantly reached out as well. "Orion." He said, shaking Tualang's claw.

"And I'm Sol, but you already know that." Sol chimed in, flicking her tail.

"Nice to meet you both. I assume Sol has already told you everything about Grapevine, then?" Tualang said, scratching his forearm nervously.

Nova gave a small nod and glanced in the direction of the female RainWing's room.

"Yeah. I'm sorry to hear about that, Tua. It sucks to see such a bright dragon reduced to nothing." She said, looking at him with a sad expression on her face. "How is she today?"

Tualang looked up and glanced back at Grapevine's room. She was fast asleep in her bed at the moment. "She was awake a few minutes before you three arrived. I told her you were coming and she said she'd join us later, if we're still here by the time she wakes up."

Sol sat down and tucked her wings tightly against her back. "I don't plan on leaving for a while. Orion? Nova?" She said and the two NightWings agreed, Orion with a hint of hesitation. "Good! So, we'll just wait for her, then."

The NightWing siblings sat down, as did Tualang. "So, I'm admittedly not good at being social or anything," Sol began, flicking her tail again. "Somebody suggest something to talk about."

"How about just some simple introductions?" Tualang suggested. "I mean, we already have names out of the way, but just tell a little bit about yourself."

Nova perked up and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I like that idea. I'll go first." She cleared her throat. "I grew up on the volcano, back before- y'know- the whole eruption thing. Not much I want to say about that life, but I love it here in the forest. Plenty of food and the neighbors are nice." The purple NightWing grinned at the last part but it faded from her face seconds later. "I'm… not a mind reader, don't worry. But sometimes I feel like I might have other powers."

Orion rolled his eyes and poked her side with his tail. "Nova, we've discussed this." He said sternly.

"Right, because you know what it's like inside my mind." She sarcastically rolled her eyes back at him.

"I'm just saying, it's extremely unlikely."

Before the two could argue more, Tualang interjected. "Powers as in… something you hatched with or something you got from that Darkstalker guy when he was here over a year ago?" He asked.

Nova's snout scrunched up at this suggestion. "Darkstalker? Hell no. I didn't want anything to do with that guy. This is something I've had my whole life."

"What can you do?" Tualang asked and he was sure he saw Orion roll his eyes again.

"Well, I frequently have these weird dreams. I want to say they're like visions, but I can only have them when I sleep. I'll dream about things that haven't even happened yet. For instance, last week I had a dream that I was meeting a RainWing about my age and his sick girlfriend." She began, glancing at him. "And what do you know? Sol and Orion were in the dream, as were you. I could see your face clearly, despite formerly not knowing who you are."

Tualang nodded in understanding and with a bit of interest.

Orion let out a groan and poked his sister with his tail again. "Or maybe you're just digging for an explanation for something you don't really have. They're just dreams, Nova. Ever hear of déjà vu?"

Tualang looked at the male NightWing with a frown. "Well, what about you? You seem pretty inclined to criticize your sister's story so maybe we should hear yours."

"Thought you'd never ask." Orion said with a grin and Nova looked down in embarrassment. "Like Nova, I grew up on the volcano. I know, shocker, right? I think the rainforest is nice, but I'm still warming up to the idea of being ruled by a la- a RainWing."

I don't hate RainWings, mind you. I've made plenty of friends since coming here, something I didn't have on the volcano. So, I'm happy to be here." Orion finished, sitting up proudly.

Sol glanced at him and yawned. "We get it. You're the big tough guy here." She said, eliciting a glare from Orion.

"Big words coming from someone who acts happy around strangers just so they don't hate her."

The SkyWing opened and closed her mouth, letting out a sigh and shaking her head. "Whatever. Anyway, it's my turn." She said, glaring back at Orion and clearing her throat.

"I lived in the Sky Kingdom until I was four years old. At that point, my father kicked me out of the house because… ah... reasons." Sol rubbed the back of her head with an embarrassed look. "I've spent the past five years traveling from kingdom to kingdom, living in different towns and learning a bunch of different healing techniques. I plan on returning to the Sky Kingdom someday, but I'm not sure when that day will come."

Tualang nodded in understanding and a bit of sympathy. "And what's special about you, RainWing?" Orion asked with a grunt.

He blinked and stared at the NightWing quietly for a few moments. "Uh, nothing, really. I was abandoned by my real parents after I hatched and adopted shortly after. I lived a fairly normal RainWing life here in the forest, collecting fruit, lying in hammocks, and building huts." Tualang said, looking down.

Although he grew up happily with Stick and Ivy, part of him wondered who his real parents truly were. Now that the war was over, he had all the time in the world to look for them- but where would he start? Most RainWings didn't care about family like this. Tualang doubted anyone in the forest kept tabs on the dragons that dropped him off for adoption.

Still, he wanted to meet them. He wanted to ask them why they gave up on him just moments after he hatched.

The sound of Grapevine's voice breaking through the silence whisked Tualang back from his thoughts.

"When did my hut turn into a support group?" She asked, stumbling over to Tualang.

Three moons, he was happy to see her. She had gotten out of bed on her own, too! Maybe she really was getting better. With a happy smile, Tualang stood up and their wings brushed against each other ever so slightly. "Technically, it's my hut. I built it, you just live here until I kick you out."

"But you wouldn't." Grapevine said, twining her tail around his.

"That's true. Here, come sit down. These are the dragons I was telling you about." He said and helped her down, sitting on the large rug that covered most of the floor.

Grapevine introduced herself to the other three dragons and they likewise did the same. Even the frown on Orion's face faded as he started talking to the female RainWing. 'She really does bring out the best in everyone.' Tualang thought with a sigh. It was one of the things he loved about her. No matter how sad or angry a dragon was, she always managed to calm them down and lighten the mood.

Tualang could recall when they first met. He was crying by a stream because three RainWings he considered friends abandoned him in a part of the forest he was unfamiliar with. Grapevine eventually stumbled upon him while she was looking for different types of fruit. She came down to talk to him and the two ended up walking back to the village together, laughing as they told each other jokes and ate fruit.

As he watched Grapevine talk with the other dragons, he couldn't help but smile. She seemed happy. Her beautiful smile hadn't appeared on her face enough since she fell ill.

"...And so I've been living here with Tu for the past few years." She finished, pulling a blanket over her shoulders. "He's been taking care of me since I became sick a short while ago. I'm not contagious, though, don't worry."

Tualang could see hints of relief wash over Sol, Nova, and Orion's faces as she said this.

"I must say, I like what you're doing, Sol. You're preparing yourself for every possible situation, ailment, or injury you can, so you'll be ready for anything one you return home." Grapevine looked up and smiled at the SkyWing.

"That's the plan. It's a bigger world now that the war is over. More dragons are allowed to go where they want, so you never know what you might see in a hospital these days. Even a SkyWing like myself might happen to eat a bad fruit or something."

"Of course. In any case, I have a feeling you'll help a lot of dragons." Grapevine assured her before wrapping her blanket around her a little tighter.

There was a bit of an awkward silence through the hut for a few moments until Orion spoke up.

"So, what exactly are you sick with? Do you know?" He asked and hastily added, "If you don't mind me asking."

Grapevine shook her head sadly and looked down. "No, I don't. The healers have no idea, either. Whatever it is, I've had it for over a month and all I can do is take painkillers and hope it goes away with time." Her voice was in a near whisper by now, but Orion nodded in understanding regardless. "I'm sorry." He said with a bit of regret in his voice.

The female RainWing looked up at him with a weak smile. "Don't be. You have nothing to do with this. It's just the way of life." She said and coughed a few times.

"Besides, there's no point in feeling sorry for me. I get that you want to help me feel better, but we just have to let nature run its course-" Grapevine continued before being interrupted by a sudden coughing fit. Tualang scooted over to comfort her but noticed the drops of blood on the claw she covered her mouth with. He looked up at Sol.

Reading the look on his face, the SkyWing stood up and had the siblings do the same. "Well, it is getting a little late. I reckon Nova and Orion have to be home soon. I'll swing by tomorrow, alright?" She said, and Tualang responded with a nod.

The other three dragons made their way out the front and Nova gave Tualang a sad look before leaving.


	4. Chapter 3: Grapevine

_**Chapter 3**_

 _Grapevine_

Grapevine got out of bed under her own power again the next morning. After another health scare last night that caused Sol, Nova, and Orion to leave, Tualang had stayed by her bed the entire night, only sleeping for minutes at a time. As such, he was fast asleep by now, just before noon.

She decided not to wake him. After all he'd done to watch over her last night, he deserved the rest. Quietly, Grapevine left her room and stepped into the living room. It was quiet, yet peaceful. One of the reasons Tualang had decided to build his hut out here. It wasn't too far from the main village but it was far enough that the noise of bustling RainWings never bothered them.

With a tired sigh, Grapevine glanced out the window. She could see a group composed of tiny RainWing and NightWing dragonets playing in a stream off in the distance, laughing as they splashed each other. Grapevine guessed they were no more than two years old. Standing just feet away were two dragons about her age, watching the dragonets with happy smiles.

She watched them for a few more minutes with a pang of sadness shooting through her chest. 'Will I live long enough to experience that with Tu?' She found herself wondering as one of the RainWing dragonets bounced over to an older RainWing and climbed on her back.

It was something the two of them talked about fairly often just before she fell ill. They had planned on giving it a year or two until they were sure they were ready, but Tualang had built his hut with family in mind. His room could turn into a shared bedroom and Grapevine's would become one for their dragonets.

A tear formed in the corner of one of her eyes and she looked down, shaking her head. 'I'm not going to live that long.' She thought sadly.

She looked back at the sleeping dragon in her room and felt the tears come back. "I'm sorry, Tu." She found herself mumbling.

Grapevine glanced out the window again. The older RainWing and NightWing were now sitting with the dragonets curled up in front of them, watching them intently. 'Probably listening to a story.'

It was at that moment that she realized she hadn't had breakfast yet. The only sustenance she'd had was the strawberry shake the previous day. 'I know! I should gather some fruit for Tu!' She thought with a happy grin, looking at the sleeping RainWing.

She quickly wrote a note and put it next to him before slipping out the front door and flying down near the stream where the dragonets were playing. She landed near a strawberry bush and studied the fruit, picking the biggest ones and putting them in the small pouch she wore around her neck. Next, she found some grapes and apples, adding them to her collection as well.

With a satisfied smile, Grapevine closed her pouch and walked over to the stream to wash the strawberry and grape juice off her talons. As she did so, one of the NightWing dragonets stumbled over to her and tapped her claw. Grapevine looked down and the dragonet smiled up at her.

"Hi!" He squeaked. Grapevine realized this one was the youngest of the bunch, maybe only a few weeks old.

She smiled back at him. "Hey, little guy." She greeted, drying off her talons and sitting down. The dragonet was pitch black with a light grey underbelly, but he had specks of rainbow under his wings and his eyes were emerald green, a typical RainWing trope.

"Blackberry." The NightWing said with a happy grin.

Grapevine blinked. "You… want blackberries?" She guessed, looking at him with a bit of confusion.

He shook his head in frustration. "No. ME, Blackberry." The dragonet pointed at himself. "Me. Me, me, me, me, me." As Grapevine gave a look of realization, he looked over her scales, which she kept a bright blue and purple pattern on a regular basis.

"You… Blueberry?" The NightWing tried, looking up at her. Grapevine laughed and shook her head.

"Good guess. It's Grapevine."

Blackberry nodded and sat down, keeping his eyes on her face. "I like grape." He said, flicking his tail. "Mommy grows them for me." He nodded at the other RainWing, who was walking over to them with the rest of her entourage.

"He's not bothering you, is he?" The RainWing asked, looking at Grapevine and then back at Blackberry.

"Grape lady is my new friend!" The dragonet squeaked, hugging Grapevine's forearm.

"Oh, I think I know you. Grapevine, right?" The other RainWing asked, to which Grapevine nodded. "I'm Cenote. This handsome NightWing to my left is Atlas."

Atlas nodded. "Pleasure to meet you." He said.

"Likewise."

The expression on Cenote's face turned sincere and she gave Grapevine a bit of a sad look. "Hey, I heard about your condition." She said quietly as Blackberry picked a strawberry from a bush and bit into it. "I'm sorry you have to go through that."

Grapevine gave a dismissive wave. "Don't be. There's nothing anyone can do about it now. At least I'm not contagious, so you don't have to worry about catching anything." A sharp pain went through her stomach and she felt her legs weaken a little, but ignored it.

Cenote nodded slowly. "Alright. Well, if you ever need anything, we'd be happy to help." She said and Atlas gave a small nod of his own in agreement.

Grapevine smiled through her sudden pain. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you." She said and stood up. "I better head back home."

The other dragons nodded and Blackberry looked back at her with a sad expression. "Grape leaving?" He asked quietly, wings drooping. Grapevine leveled her eyes with his and gave him a smile. "Just for now. Tell you what, if it's okay with your parents, bring some strawberries over to my hut tomorrow evening and we'll make a pie. Alright?"

Blackberry's face lit up and his jumped around excitedly. "Yes! I start now!" He exclaimed, rushing over to the bush and picking some strawberries at random. Grapevine smiled at him before waving goodbye to the other dragons and taking off.

The smile quickly turned into a grimace. Grapevine rushed home and darted through the door, throwing her bag into the living room and grabbing a large bucket. Seconds later, she gasped and vomited into the container.

After a few more dry heaves, Grapevine shakily opened her eyes and made the mistake of looking into the bucket.

'Blood. Lots of it.'

"Grapevine?" Tualang's voice came from her room. She looked at him, setting the bucket down.

And then she passed out.

When she came to, the sun was setting outside.

'I'm back in my bed.' She realized, and noticed Tualang sitting next to her with a worried expression. She tried to sit up, but cried out in pain as she moved.

"What happened?" She wanted to say, but her throat hurt too much to talk.

"Shh, here. Drink this." Tualang handed her some cold water, which she gulped down despite her stomach's protests. She grimaced in pain and looked at him.

Something wasn't right. She didn't feel like this earlier. No, this was exactly the opposite of how she felt earlier that day. In fact, this was the worst she'd felt in MONTHS.

Without thinking, Grapevine found herself grabbing a bowl from her bedside and painfully coughing into it.

'More blood. I'm coughing up blood.' She realized.

'A lot.'

Grapevine quickly found she didn't even have the strength to move her blanket. She closed her eyes and felt tears welling up. The day had started so well.

"This is it, isn't it?" She sobbed, gritting her teeth. Tualang wiped tears from his own eyes and grabbed one of her claws with both of his.

Grapevine already knew the truth. She was coughing up blood. She couldn't eat. She didn't even have the strength to move her blanket. "Tualang…" She rasped, opening her eyes, looking at him through her tears.

Tualang gripped her talons tighter and looked her in the eyes. "Yes, my love?" He asked quietly.

"Do you remember how I promised I'd stay with you forever?"

He nodded.

Grapevine gave him a sad smile and tears streamed down the side of her face. "I'm afraid I can't keep that promise, Tu."

"Don't say that, please." Tualang said, getting a little choked up. He gripped her talons and watched as her beautiful scales were stuck in a pale white color.

Grapevine laughed before coughing into the bowl again. "I'm sorry." She said again, pressing her head against her pillow. "But it's the truth."

Tualang shook his head and leaned forward, embracing her tightly. "What am I supposed to do without you, Grape?" He sobbed, closing his eyes. "You are the only dragon I've ever loved. You've been my only friend most of my life. What am I supposed to do?"

The female RainWing kissed him on his cheek. "I want you to move on." She rasped. "I want you to be happy. If that means finding someone else… So be it."

He looked in her eyes, wiping the tears from his face. "But you're the only dragon I love." He said again in a near whisper.

"I was." She said, staring back into his deep emerald green eyes. "But look at me. I don't have much longer. Just promise me, please." Grapevine closed her eyes and gripped his talons, another tear falling down her cheek. "Don't spend the rest of your life mourning me. Move on. Be happy."

You have other dragons that care for you now. Sol, Nova, even Orion. I saw the looks on their faces."

Tualang kissed her forehead and gently massaged her claw. "O-okay." He choked up. "But I… I want you to promise me something as well."

"Name it."

"When my time comes… will you wait for me?" He asked.

Grapevine nodded and closed her eyes. "I will, Tualang. And I will greet you with open wings." She said, her voice growing weaker. "I'm going to a better place. I won't hurt any more. No more pain, no more sickness…"

Tualang hugged her tighter and she went silent. As the time passed, her eyes remained closed and he felt the warmth leave her body and her breathing stop. Her heartbeat followed suit.

Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.

Thump. Thump.

Thump.


	5. Chapter 4: Day One

_**Chapter 4**_

 _Day One_

A light rain fell from the trees as Tualang stared at the grey headstone. It had been nearly a week since she passed and he already felt lost.

The funeral held days ago was nothing too special. Sol, Nova, and Orion turned up, as did Stick, Ivy, Atlas, Cenote, and Grapevine's parents. He spoke for a few minutes about what she meant to him before letting the others come up and say a few words if they wanted.

After the service, there was hugging. Lots of hugging. Sol came up to Tualang and wrapped him in her wings, as did Nova. Orion leaned in as well, but only for a few seconds.

He spent the rest of his week cooped up in his hut. He barely ate and stayed in bed for hours at a time. He didn't like the eerie silence of the hut one bit. With a pang of sadness, he remembered how Grapevine's cheerful voice used to bounce around the hut and liven the place up.

Alas, it was no more. Sol and Nova attempted to visit him during the week but they had no luck getting him out of bed. They eventually gave up and vowed to return at a later time.

Now here he was, staring at her grave again. He'd buried her near her parents' home, where she lived before Tualang built his hut.

 _Here lies Grapevine of the RainWings_

 _Died: 5,013 A.S. (Age 9)_

 _A bright light snuffed out too soon_

Tualand closed his eyes and shook his head as he heard another dragon land near him.

"I'm not in the mood for another lecture right now, Stick." He sighed as he heard his adoptive dad approach.

Stick frowned and brushed his wing against Tualang's own. "That's not why I'm here, relax." He assured him. "I…" Stick cleared his throat and shifted his weight ever so slightly.

"When you and Grapevine first became a couple, I gave this to her. Told her to hang onto it until she decided it was time to give it to you." He handed his son a small envelope, which he took with a bit of hesitation.

"Why would she want to keep this from me?" He asked incredulously. Tualang and Grapevine never kept secrets from each other.

Stick smiled. "Because she knew if you ever saw it, you'd pack up and set off on a journey across the continent, probably getting yourself injured or killed in the process." He said and a more serious look crossed his face. "It's no secret that you're adopted, Tualang. We ripped that bandage off a long time ago. But… we never showed you this."

Tualang frowned and ripped open the envelope, taking out the crumbly, aged sheet of paper. The paper looked like it was older than dirt! "What is it?" He asked, carefully unfolding the paper as to not tear it.

"When we adopted you, the RainWings at the hatchery told us you were dropped off with this note under your talons. I assume it's from your real father, but there aren't any names on there." Stick explained, nodding at the paper. "But I think that might help explain your… extra features."

Tualang's eyes scanned over the scribbly writing and he read out loud. "Please take care of my son, for I can not. Queen Coral would have my head." He looked up with a bit of confusion before realization dawned on him. "Queen Coral… I'm part SeaWing!?"

Stick nodded and looked down. "Yes. And those things on your neck- 'slits' or 'ridges' you call them- are gills." He rubbed his talons together in shame. "We would've told you earlier, but Grapevine didn't want you to go on a cross-continent manhunt and leave her in the forest."

Tualang found himself touching his gills absentmindedly. 'I guess it does make sense. I do want to know who he is and I'd have to leave Grapevine here…' He looked at the headstone with a sad smile. 'You clever dragon. Blackmailing me into staying.' He chuckled and looked at the paper again. It was clearly hastily written.

A frown quickly replaced his smile and he looked at Stick again. "But why would he leave me here? What's so dangerous about a quiet RainWing like me?" He asked and Stick returned his question with a helpless shrug.

"I don't know, Tua. None of the RainWings in the hatchery got a good look at him when he fled." He sighed. "We only know that he's a steel blue SeaWing with light green bioluminescent scales. That's all I can tell you."

Tualang folded the paper and put it in the small bag around his neck.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Stick asked him, eliciting a sigh from the younger dragon.

"I don't know, man. I'm probably just going to head back to my hut and wallow in sadness for a few more hours." He closed the leather bag and glanced at Stick, spreading his wings. "...Thanks for the letter, though."

And then he disappeared into the trees. Stick shook his head and made his way back to the hut he shared with Ivy.

Tualang sat in his bed, reading his father's note over and over. It wasn't much at all, but it was his only clue as to who his father was. And now that Grapevine was gone…

He sighed and put the letter away, pressing his head into his pillows. Leaving the rainforest was a terrible idea. He wouldn't last a day on his own out there. Even though the war was over, there were still shifty dragons sulking around the continent. Given his luck, he'd get stabbed the moment he left the forest.

On the other talon, he was free to go searching for his father now. Grapevine wouldn't like him moping around in bed all day. Maybe it was time.

Just then, there was a loud knock on his door. He grumbled and stood up, walking over and opening it.

Standing on his porch were Sol, Nova, and Orion.

"Hey, Tua." Nova greeted, a light rain pelting the three dragons' scales.

"Hey guys." He nodded, stepping out of the way. "Come on in. I know not all of us like the rain."

The other dragons nodded gratefully and walked inside, Tualang closing the door behind them. "What are you three doing here?" He asked as they made themselves comfortable.

"Checking on you, idiot." Orion said with a frown. "We haven't seen you in nearly a week and Nova thought we should stop by and see how you're holding up."

"I can speak for myself, thanks." Nova cleared her throat. "But he's right. I wanted to make sure you're doing alright after… you know." She trailed off, but her eyes glanced in the direction of Grapevine's now empty room.

Tualang sighed and grabbed a bowl of fruit from the kitchen, walking back and setting it between them in case they were hungry. Sol gladly took an orange from the bowl and started peeling it.

"I'm fine, guys. Really." Tualang said, sitting down and curling his tail up next to his left leg.

The frown remained on Orion's face and he looked at Tualang skeptically. "You don't look fine. You look like you've seen a ghost." Nova whacked her brother with her tail.

"No, it's fine." The RainWing sighed, giving Nova a dismissive wave. "I was going to tell you all later this week, anyway. Might as well do it now." He got up and went to his room, returning with the dusty note.

He sat back down and took it out of the envelope. "When I was just a mere hatchling, my biological father abandoned me at the RainWing hatchery. Nobody remembers who he was, but he left this note with me." Tualang placed the flimsy letter on the ground. "From what this tells me, I'm apparently part SeaWing. And these are gills." He tapped his neck.

Sol's eyes widened and she swallowed the orange slice that was in her mouth. "Wow. Do you have any other SeaWing traits?" She asked, to which Tualang shook his head.

"No. As far as I can tell, just the gills."

Nova read over the letter a few times with a scowl. "Looks like he was in a hurry. Why would anyone want to abandon an innocent hatchling like that? A RainWing hatchling, even." She looked up and immediately gave Tualang an apologetic look. "Err.. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He dismissed, tapping his talons against the wooden floor.

"So, in what way does this concern us?" Orion asked, flicking his tail. "Why are you showing this note to us? If you think we have any clue who your dad is, you are sadly mistaken."

The RainWing frowned at Orion and stood up, looking out the window. "Because I thought now would be a good time to go searching for him." He turned around to face the other three dragons.

"And if it's not too much trouble… I wanted to ask if you three could come with me. I won't last a day outside of the forest on my own, but this is something I really want to do. You don't have to come. I'm leaving that choice to you. But… I just thought I'd try my luck."

Sol stood up and flapped her wings. "I'm in." She said almost the moment he stopped talking. "We haven't known each other for very long, but I'll be damned if I don't jump at an excuse to go exploring the continent again. Not that I have a problem with the forest, but it's time to get out for a little while."

Tualang gave her a grateful smile and nodded. "Thanks. Happy to have you."

Nova cleared her throat and stood up a few seconds later, ignoring the look Orion gave her. "I guess I'm in, too. Most of my life has been spent either on the volcano or here in the forest. It's time to see what Pyrrhia has to offer."

Orion gave her an indescribable look and remained sitting. Sol, Nova, and Tualang stared at him curiously and he let out a tired sigh. "Oh, what the hell." He grumbled, standing up. "I don't really want to, but I guess I have to if Nova's going. I'm in."

Nova grinned and nudged him, eliciting a nervous smile from the black NightWing.

Tualang looked at the other dragons, a warm feeling rising through his chest. Even though they had their own reasons for doing so, these dragons had agreed to go with him. To help him find his father.

He would be leaving the rainforest for the first time in his life.

"Thank you, all of you." He said, looking at them again. "Even you, Orion."

Orion grunted and looked away.

"When do we leave?" Sol asked, flicking her tail. Tualang looked up at her with a smile.

"Tomorrow morning. Go home and pack up whatever you need tonight. Meet me here just after sunrise. Got it?" He said and the others nodded. "Good. I'll see you three then."

Tualang opened the door and Sol, Nova, and Orion quickly took off into the forest, trying to avoid as much of the rain as possible. He closed the door behind him and looked at the letter.

"I'm coming for you, father. You have a lot of questions to answer."


	6. Chapter 5: Out of the Forest

**Chapter 5**

 _Out of the Forest_

Tualang spent the rest of his evening packing up for the journey ahead. When morning came, he jumped out of bed and grabbed his bag, eating a quick breakfast while he waited for the rest of his party to show up.

He was still incredibly grateful that they agreed to tag along. Even if Sol and Nova just wanted to explore and Orion was going to look after Nova, they'd still decided to go with him, to help him find his father.

As he finished a banana, there was a knock on his door. Judging from the blurs of black, purple, and crimson he saw in the corner of his eye, the others were ready to go.

Tualang disposed of the banana peel and made his way to the door, strapping his bag to his chest.

"Morning, fellas." He greeted as he stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

"Good morning, Tua." Nova responded and Orion nodded in greeting. Sol was too busy eating an apple to say anything, but she too nodded at him with a smile.

Tualang stretched his wings and glanced at the NightWing siblings. "Your parents know you're leaving, right?" He asked, to which Nova nodded.

"Yes. We told them about our plan last night."

Orion rolled his eyes. "I don't think 'plan' is the right word to use. We just said we're leaving." He paused and frowned at Tualang. "Do we even have a plan? Where are we even going?"

Tualang paused. 'Oh. I didn't think about that. I'm an idiot.' He realized, not exactly sure where to start. But he couldn't tell Orion that. "I thought we could start by visiting that town at the mouth of Diamond Spray River. You know, the one that leads into the bay?"

Sol perked up and swallowed the fruit she had in her mouth. "I know that place. I believe it's called Inlet." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it."

Nova looked a little confused. "What's Inlet like?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Think Possibility, just by the ocean. And not as sketchy or cramped." The SkyWing explained with a grin. Nova was still confused. She'd never seen Possibility either so this comparison did little to help her.

"Enough talk. I'm ready to go." Orion said impatiently, eliciting a skeptical look from his sister. "I thought you didn't want to go in the first place?" She asked with a teasing smirk.

"I don't," He huffed, flicking his tail. "I just figure the sooner we get going, the sooner we return to the forest."

"Right. Let's get going, then." Tualang said, spreading his wings and taking to the sky. The other three followed suit. "Inlet's off that way. It'll take a day or two to fly there, but it's not terribly far." Sol called, pointing in a certain direction to the north.

Without further hesitation, the quartet flapped their wings and started North. As they departed the rainforest, Tualang looked up. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

"Hello? Earth to Tua?" Nova called, bumping into him, snapping him back from his thoughts. "Uh, sorry. What?" He asked, blinking at her as they caught up with Sol and Orion.

Nova grinned and turned her attention forwards again. "I asked what we're going to do once we get to Inlet." She asked.

Tualang blinked. He wasn't too sure himself. "...I'm actually not sure." He said regretfully, looking down at the ground far below. "I'm not a good planner, alright? I just figured we could hang around the town for a few days. See if we can find anything that might help."

"I guess it's a good place to start." The NightWing said with a bit of a shrug as they flew. Tualang nodded. "It's the only idea I have. I don't know what my father looks like so the only way I can think to play this is by ear. It's better than nothing."

'This is why I didn't want anyone to come with me. I don't know what I'm doing. Hell, we're lucky if we last a week in Inlet.' He thought with a wince.

'But it's too late to turn back now, I guess.' Tualang thought as he saw Sol happily flapping her wings, the forest slowly growing smaller and smaller behind them.

The sun began to set as the quartet found a spot to rest near a small lake. Nova and Orion went fishing and Sol started a fire using sticks Tualang gathered from the nearby trees.

With a tired sigh, Tualang sat by the fire and opened his bag, taking out a peach and biting into it. Sol snagged a few fish from the pile Nova and Orion made and began cooking them over the fire. "So…" Tualang began.

"So?" Orion asked with a frown, waiting for the fish.

"Just trying to break the silence. I don't like it." Tualang said defensively and mentally kicked himself. There were three other dragons near him yet he had no clue what to talk about. 'Think of something!'

Orion snorted and blew a small plume of flame into the air. "Well, you're going to have to do better than 'so', RainWing." Nova whacked him with her wing and scowled before glancing at the fire. "We should arrive in Inlet tomorrow afternoon, if I recall." She said thoughtfully, tapping her chin.

Tualang wanted to thank her for silencing Orion but was cut off.

Sol nodded in confirmation but didn't look away as she continued to cook the fish. "That sounds about right. Once we're there, Tua can…" She trailed off, trying to find the words. "Do whatever it is he needs to do. Which is..."

He frowned and started peeling an orange. "I'm just going to hang around town for a few days. See if I can pick up on anything. Hell, maybe we'll find something interesting completely unrelated to my father. Who knows? It's a big world."

It was incredibly frustrating. The sole reason he left the rainforest was to find his father and he didn't even know where to start. 'Why did you have to leave? Why must you make things so difficult for me?' He thought, a pang of anger directed at his father.

The scenarios played through his mind over and over. How would his father react? Obviously he knew he had a son, but what would he say? Maybe he actually hated RainWings and left because he didn't feel like caring for a RainWing son.

Tualang froze and felt his heart sink. That was a terrifying thought. Maybe they were going to waste all this time on a dragon that didn't even care for him.

'You can't think like that, Tualang.' He growled at himself. 'You're doing this because you want to. It doesn't matter if he wants to see you or not. You'll get your answers. You'll see his face, and he'll have to see yours again.'

"Uh, you alright there, Tua?" Orion asked with a scowl, grabbing a cooked fish. Tualang blinked and returned from his thoughts.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because you're grinding your teeth. It's bothering me." The NightWing grunted as he sat down by Nova, who was biting into a fish.

Tualang blinked. Did he do that every time he got lost in his thoughts? "Err, sorry." He apologized and tossed an orange slice into his mouth. As he ate, he couldn't help but regret asking the others to come with him. They were venturing across the continent to find a dragon that didn't even concern them.

Part of this regret was actually annoyance that Orion had decided to tag along. The last thing he needed was this dragon's negativity hanging around.

But of course, he had to be there. In fact, Orion gladly reminded them during the past few hours that he was only joining them because Nova was going, much to Tualang's annoyance. Hell, even Sol seemed to be getting tired of his complaining and Nova had to constantly tell him to shut up. That made the trip bearable so far.

Tualang ate the rest of the orange and tossed the peels away with a sigh, planting his head against the grass and staring at the fire. They'd be in Inlet tomorrow afternoon, as Nova said earlier.

'Get some rest, Tualang. Long day ahead of you tomorrow.' He thought and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep a few minutes later.


	7. Chapter 6: Inlet

**Chapter 6**

 _Inlet_

As Nova predicted, the quartet arrived in Inlet the next afternoon, the sun shining brightly overhead and beating against their scales. Tualang saw the town off in the distance. It was full of canals that connected the city to the bay, as well as sturdy-looking houses that seemed to be in good condition.

Put simply, it didn't look as sketchy as he thought it would. He saw a bunch of dragons going about their day on the spacious streets, selling and buying things from rugs to tapestries to toasted grasshoppers to exotic fruit.

It really was surprising. The end of the war two years ago had sparked an insane amount of cultural diffusion between the tribes. SeaWings were buying SandWing goods, SkyWings were travelling to the rainforest, and cities were being built just miles from former battlegrounds

'Ten years ago, if you told any dragon that Pyrrhia would become this in just a few years, you'd be put in an asylum.' Tualang thought to himself as they flew closer to the town.

It definitely wasn't a bad thing to see, however. Absolutely not. The peace in the continent was a refreshing change from the twenty-odd years of war caused by the death of Queen Oasis.

Cities seemed to sprout up almost weekly now. Far off in the east, near the border between the desert and the icy north, the city of Sundown had become one of the largest trading hubs on the continent. Dragons were happy. Thanks in part to the cities and the end of the war, dragons who previously had to fight for food now went to bed with full bellies every night. Gone were the days of eating scraps from an alley. Food was plentiful now that there wasn't much of a demand to keep soldiers fed.

Even the rainforest got in on the action. Caravans shipped fruit out of the forest almost daily. SandWings now had the opportunity to eat grapes. SkyWings were able to enjoy bananas. SeaWings could get cocoa beans almost on demand. In return, the RainWings and NightWings received goods previously inaccessible to them. Some huts were even decorated with jars and pots made from the finest porcelain in the Mud Kingdom.

Tualang smiled to himself. He'd always wanted to buy a vase for his hut but always talked himself out of it. He would never use it for anything but decoration. If he were to get something expensive like that, it would have to have a practical use, like a flower pot.

He took himself out of his thoughts again as they found a rather empty part of town and landed. There were a few shops scattered around this part, but most of them were closed. The only one that was open was a fruit stand with a NightWing shopkeep. Tualang saw only a few customers standing in front of the stand, choosing some fruit. A closer look revealed them as just a small group of dragonets, maybe only two or three years old each. He grinned at the sight before turning his attention back to the rest of his party.

"So, welcome to Inlet." Sol said, spreading her wings in a dramatic fashion. "This is one of the quieter parts of town. Not a lot of business goes on here during the day. However, I have been told that this area livens up a bit after the sun goes down." She gave Tualang a look that he guessed meant 'This would be a good place to start'.

"How do you know all this?" Orion asked, folding his wings against his back as he landed.

The SkyWing rolled her eyes. "Do you have to be suspicious of everything?" She asked, flicking her tail. "Hey, Orion, I think that bug is watching you. Are you going to interrogate it?" Nova snorted in amusement and Tualang had to bite back a chuckle.

Orion frowned at them. "That was a legitimate question, idiot." He growled at Sol, eliciting a growl in return from the crimson SkyWing. "Forgive me for being genuinely curious and invested."

Sol was clearly about to retort but Nova interjected before she had the chance. "Hey, relax. We're all friends here." She paused, glancing at the two dragons she was keeping apart. "At least, some of us are. The rest of us will just have to deal with each other. Understand?" The NightWing directed at both of them.

Nova stepped back and Sol rolled her eyes, standing down and taking a step back. "Fine, whatever." She said and Orion hesitantly nodded in agreement. "The answer to your question, by the way, is something you've known for weeks now." There was a clear bit of annoyance woven into her voice.

"But if I have to reiterate, I've been travelling the continent since I was four years old, learning healing methods from all over. After the war ended, this was once of the places I went. Stayed here for about a month."

The black NightWing sighed and shook his head. "Sorry. It slipped my mind. I didn't know you visited this town before." He did sound genuinely apologetic and Sol gave him a bit of an amused look.

"You're forgiven, don't worry. Besides, there are multiple dragons preventing me from gouging your eyes out and slashing your stomach open right now. Namely, Nova and some of the commoners nearby wouldn't take too kindly to seeing your body in the town square. I'd also probably get arrested." She shrugged, smirking at him. Sol was clearly joking about the killing part, but it still unnerved Tualang a little.

"Right, whatever." Orion said with a shrug, turning his attention back to the town. "So, what do we do? I don't suppose you have a house here we can sleep at?"

Sol laughed and shook her head. "That I do not have. However, there is an inn we can stay at not too far from here. And fortunately for us all, I can pay for a large room for about three weeks. We won't be staying that long, but what I'm trying to say is I've got everything covered in regards to sleeping arrangements."

A look of relief washed over Tualang's face. They had a place to stay, thank the moons. They wouldn't need to go door to door, asking to stay in a stranger's home. "Great!" He exclaimed. "We should head there right now. I'm going to wait until the sun sets to start looking for leads. Some rest after that flight sounds nice."

Orion nodded. "For once, I agree with the RainWing. Even with the rest we got last night, I'm still tired after that flight."

"Same here." Nova chimed in.

Sol shook her head but gave a small chuckle. "Alright, let's go, you pansies. It's this way." She said and started down the street.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. The quartet slept for most of the afternoon and when Tualang was the first to wake up, the sun was already setting.

He blinked and got up with a yawn, staring out of the window. 'Sol did mention that the town square livens up after the sunset.' He reminded himself, looking at the other three dragons, who were all still asleep. 'I should let them rest. I can do this part on my own.'

Without much hesitation, he put his bag back around his neck and tightened the leather straps before stepping out of the room and making his way to the square. Indeed, even from here, he could hear the sounds of dragons talking, laughing, and shouting.

A small grin found its way across his muzzle and he followed the noise, eventually arriving in the large, bustling town square. The voices of merchants and shopkeepers filled his ears.

"Freshest fruit in the continent right here! Get it now!"

"REAL fresh fruit over here! Imported this afternoon!"

"Hey there, RainWing, might I interest you in a necklace?"

"Quality rugs and blankets on sale for today only! Hello? Anyone?"

Tualang blocked out most of the voices and made his way to one of the tents that seemed mostly unoccupied.

"Good evening." Greeted the MudWing shopkeep. "Can I help you?"

"Ah, I'm just looking around, thank you." Tualang said and the MudWing nodded in understanding, turning back around and tending to some of the items on her wall.

Tualang looked around the tent. This place seemed to sell a variety of items, from canteens filled with water to daggers, maps, and even potions. 'The potions are probably a scam.' He found himself thinking, frowning at one of the small, purple bottles. He looked around a bit more before a curved knife caught his eye.

'If I'm going to be travelling through sketchy areas, it might help to have something to defend myself with. These talons couldn't hurt a sloth.'

"Hey, how much for the knife?" Tualang asked, causing the MudWing to look over. Before she could answer, a SandWing with dull gold scales wearing tinted goggles over his eyes and a bandana around his neck snatched it before Tualang could grab it.

"It's off sale." The SandWing said, taking it up to the MudWing and paying for it. "For you, anyway."

Tualang frowned at him as he paid and left the tent. "Okay…" He said to himself before settling on a canteen and taking it to the shopkeep. "I'll just take this, then."

The MudWing nodded and he paid for the canteen before stepping out of the tent. The SandWing that bought the knife was nowhere in sight, but it was possible Tualang just couldn't see him in the swarm of dragons in the town square.

"Tua! There you are!" Nova's voice called and he saw the purple NightWing running over to him. "I've been looking for you for the past hour!"

Had he really been gone for over an hour? 'Wow, time flies in this town.' He thought and gave Nova a nervous smile. "Sorry. I forgot to leave a note."

"Don't be. Sol guessed you'd be out here tonight. Looking for clues, I assume?" She asked, to which he nodded.

"Anything?" She asked.

"Not yet." Tualang sighed. "There was a SandWing who stopped me from buying a knife in there, but that was it. Nothing on my father."

Nova's eyes widened in shock and curiosity. "Why would he stop you from buying a knife?" She asked.

Tualang gave a halfhearted shrug. "I don't know. Maybe he just liked the design…" He said, trailing off as he saw the SandWing off in the distance, glancing around suspiciously before dipping into an alley. "That's him over there." Nova looked in the same direction and saw the flash of pale gold.

"Shall we follow him?" She said with a grin, causing Tualang to look at her in confusion. "Why would we do that?"

Nova shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just curious as to why he's so possessive over a knife. Plus, it gives us something to do other than slog around all evening." She nodded in the direction of the alley the SandWing disappeared in. "Shall we?"

"It's not really our business…" Tualang started before cutting himself off and sighing. "You know what? Why not. Let's go." Nova gave a happy grin and the two of them took off after the SandWing.

Tualang was careful not to alert him of their presence. Him and Nova perched on the rooftops over the alley, just barely peeking their eyes into the alley. Sure enough, the SandWing was there, as well as two SkyWings.

"Right, so I got the knife." The SandWing said, taking it out of a pocket. It was at this moment that Tualang realized he was wearing some sort of harness, dotted with small pouches all over. In addition, he had a crossbow and some sort of baton strapped to the harness as well. "Just as you asked. Pay up."

The SandWing put the knife back in its box and handed it to one of the SkyWings. Seconds later, the other SkyWing gave the dusty gold dragon a small bag filled with what Tualang assumed was gold coins. "Pleasure doing business with you." The first SkyWing said, holding the box.

The SandWing nodded and flicked his tail. "Whatever. We had a deal, SkyWing. You got the knife. If your leader asks where, deny my involvement." He leaned in. "I don't exist. Got it?"

One of the orange dragons shrugged. "Sure." Was all he said. Tualang realized both of them were wearing some sort of bracelet with a black insignia on it.

Seconds later, the three dragons were gone. Tualang blinked and stepped away from the ledge, glancing at Nova. "Well, there's your answer." He said. Nova's eyes widened. "Tua! Look out!" She yelled.

Suddenly, Tualang felt something cold- yet sharp- against his neck. He froze in fear and glanced down, seeing the dull gold scales of the SandWing they were watching.

"Scream," The dragon hissed at both Tualang and Nova, digging the blade against his neck, drawing a little bit of blood. "And you both die."


	8. Chapter 7: Worth a Shot

**Chapter 7**

 _Worth a Shot_

"Why are you following me?" The SandWing growled, holding Tualang still. "Are you working with the Faction? What do those idiots want from me? I'm not going back!"

"The- the what?" Tualang coughed and yelped as the SandWing held the knife closer. "I don't even know what that means! We were just curious, is all!" He frantically explained, reading Nova's terrified expression just a few feet away.

This SandWing had a crossbow at the ready. If Nova fled or tried to yell, both she and Tualang would be dead in seconds. Not a good look.

"Don't play dumb with me, you piece of shit." The SandWing growled, staring at Nova. "Is this what they're doing now? Making RainWings be their scouts? So nobody will be suspicious of them?"

Nova swallowed the lump in her throat and took a wary step forward. "Look, please, we don't mean any harm. It's my fault we're up here. He told me that you were acting suspicious over a knife in the store, and my curiosity got the better of us. Just please, don't hurt him."

A bolt of fear went through Tualang as Nova cautiously moved forward. He could feel the SandWing tense up and idly prepare one of his claws to reach for his crossbow. If they both died, what would happen? Orion would be without a sister and Inlet's normally respectable reputation would be ruined once the word got out that two residents of the rainforest were found dead by an arrow to the heart and a slashed neck. If someone was willing to kill an innocent RainWing, anyone could die in this town.

The SandWing snarled and his gaze darted between the two. Or rather, Tualang thought so. He couldn't actually see the dragon's eyes behind his tinted goggles and his mouth was covered with a dark green bandana. The one thing Tualang could deduce about him was his age. He seemed to be only a year or two older than him, but he was much stronger. He was clearly experienced, judging by his grip and confidence in his abilities.

Though, he could also be bluffing.

With a frustrated growl, the SandWing let go of Tualang and shoved him away. Tualang gripped the small cut on his neck, staring back at the dull gold dragon. "Consider this your lucky day, RainWing." He grunted, sheathing the knife in a special pocket on his harness. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Tualang coughed and removed his claw from his neck, realizing the bleeding had stopped. "Are you alright?" Nova asked, to which he nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… don't think that was the right guy to start with." He muttered.

Nova sighed and gave a reluctant nod. "Yeah…" She said before her ears perked up. "Wait, he mentioned something called the Faction. Any idea what that might mean?"

Tualang frowned and shook his head. "I have no clue, Nova." He said, gingerly touching his neck. "I'm just happy to be alive right now. Let's go back to the inn."

The NightWing agreed and the two of them returned to the room. Nova fell asleep almost immediately and Tualang bandaged the small cut on his neck before falling asleep himself.

His emerald green eyes shot open. He was in the rainforest, standing by a small, clear stream of water. As he reached towards the water, he found that he was no bigger than a hatchling. The reflection off the water confirmed this.

Standing next to him was a large dragon. Or rather, the blurry outline of one. Tualang couldn't actually see the dragon, just an outline with smudges of blue filled in.

The larger dragon nodded at the water and Tualang found himself reaching his claws in and washing them off. After doing so, he looked at the larger dragon again. "Who are you?" He asked and recoiled slightly at how light his voice was.

The dragon ignored his question and gently brushed a talon against Tualang's neck, feeling his gills. Seconds later, he sat down and stared him in the eyes. Tualang could almost see a smile on the apparition's face.

"Who are you?" Tualang asked again and was- again- met with silence.

After a few minutes of silence, the other dragon picked him up, paused, and set him back down on the grass.

"Stop ignoring me!" The RainWing yelled, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "Who are you?"

There was no response, but Tualang did see a look of shock- or fear, he couldn't tell- on the dragon's face. The larger figure backed away, staring at Tualang before spreading his wings and taking off.

Then the dream faded away.

Tualang shot awake the next morning with little recollection of the dream. As his eyes fluttered open, he noticed that the other three dragons were just waking up as well.

"Good morning!" Nova said cheerfully and Tualang peeled off the bandage he placed on his neck the previous night. "Did you sleep well? You know, after our little run-in with a certain SandWing?"

The RainWing grinned and gave a tired nod. "I guess. I'm just happy he let me off the hook, if I'm being honest."

It did feel good not to die on their first night in Inlet. Besides the incident in the alley, they had gone an entire day in the town without a problem. Maybe he was worrying over nothing, as per usual.

'One of the things Grapevine always got onto me about.' He thought to himself with a sad grin. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Tualang to fret over little things. He'd always been afraid of everything, so it seemed. What if the hut fell out of the trees without warning? What if he broke his wing while gliding between the trees? What if he pissed off the wrong NightWing and got a blast of fire to the face?

Even when he was just a dragonet, he'd refuse to eat certain types of fruit out of fear that he might choke on them.

"But what if I take too big a bite and the banana gets stuck in my throat and chokes me to death until I die?" A year-old Tualang sobbed one afternoon once Stick returned with a basket of fruit. These episodes weren't daily occurrences, but it seemed to happen once every week.

It got old fast. Stick and Ivy always managed to calm him down, but they eventually told him to suck it up and eat the fruit. He outgrew the fear of eating a few months later but to this day he was afraid of trying new things. 'Always scared of what can happen, so I'd rather not stick around to find out what will happen.'

'And speaking of pissed off NightWings…'

Tualang was pulled back from his thoughts as he saw Orion approaching him with a scowl. "I'm sorry, did I hear that right?" Orion growled, flicking his tail. "You two were almost killed by a SandWing?"

"Orion…" Nova sighed but Orion cut her off.

"I asked him." Orion hissed, nodding at Tualang.

Tualang swallowed the lump in his throat and frowned. "We weren't 'almost killed' by anybody." He said, flashes of irritation flicking through his scales. "We just had a run in with some dragon we shouldn't have been bothering in the first place."

"That was my fault, by the way." Nova said quietly, looking down. "Don't be mad at Tua." Orion's gaze darted between the two of them and he growled at the RainWing. "Fine. Consider this a warning." He whacked Tualang on the head with his black wing. Before either Tualang or Nova could respond, Orion was already out the door.

"So…" Sol's voice chimed in and Tualang jumped, having forgotten about the SkyWing in the room with them.

"Don't worry about it." Nova waved her off. "Just something stupid that happened last night because of my curiosity. It's water under the bridge now."

Sol blinked and ruffled her wings. "Oooooooookay." She said, frowning. "Well, I'm going to run after Orion. Make sure he doesn't take his anger out on any of the shopkeepers." She chuckled before looking at Tualang. "Good luck looking for clues today. Tell me if you find anything interesting, yeah?"

Tualang nodded and Sol was out the door in a flash. 'That SkyWing… always so full of energy.' He thought, shaking his head with a bit of a smile. 'I wonder what she did to get kicked out of her home…' He blinked and mentally kicked himself. 'Stop. That's none of your business, idiot.'

Seconds later, he realized he had spaced out again.

"Hellooooooo, earth to Tualang?" Nova said, waving a claw in front of his face. "I said let's go check the town square. It'd be a good place to start. Plus, we can get some breakfa- lunch there for cheap."

Tualang thought about it. The town square would be busy, even during the daytime. Plus, there wouldn't be any SandWing assassins lurking around. Even a RainWing like himself knew that you don't kill in broad daylight unless you want to get caught, and judging by how the SandWing behaved during their encounter, getting caught was not an option. Not in a million years.

"Alright, let's go." He agreed and the duo stepped outside, Tualang momentarily shielding his eyes from the sunlight. It was already after noon. A lot of time lost from sleeping in. He glanced back at the streets, seeing other dragons walking up and down the cobblestone paths.

"Square's this way, I believe." He said, nodding at the street to his left. Nova checked a map and agreed before following him down the path. The town square was indeed busy, despite the sun being out. Tualang could see dragons trading, talking, and at certain bars… drinking.

"I wasn't aware that Inlet was able to import alcohol." Tualang said curiously, absentmindedly watching two dragons- a MudWing and a SkyWing- having a drinking contest. He did a double take as the crimson SkyWing picked up another mug and nodded at the MudWing with a smirk, seemingly ready for another round.

"Well, I found Sol." Tualang nodded at the bar and the outdoor pavilion where Sol, the MudWing, and multiple other dragons were having lunch and downing large drinks. Nova was looking at a few different vendors with slight interest before perking up at what Tualang said. She snapped her head in Sol's direction with a frown. "Yeah… She told us that she's quite a heavy drinker sometimes. Probably failed to mention that to you."

"That she did."

"It should be fine. She mentioned that it takes a lot of drinking to get her extremely drunk. We won't have to babysit her."

Nova bumped Tualang with her wing and nodded at a building a short distance away. "There's lunch." She said and the duo entered the building, taking a seat at a table. A young teal SeaWing approached them with a beaming expression.

"Hello~! My name is Shell. What can I get you two today?" She asked cheerfully.

"What do you have?" Tualang asked.

"Pretty much anything you can think of. From toasted grasshoppers to fruit shipped directly from the rainforest!"

Tualang thought for a minute. Fruit did sound nice, but that was obvious. He was a RainWing, after all. "I guess I'll take a small order of bananas and oranges." He said with a shrug and Shell wrote it down on a small notepad, turning her attention to Nova. "And for you, ma'am?"

Nova thought about the options, having been given a menu. The NightWing shrugged and handed the menu back. "I'll take an order of strawberries." She said.

The young SeaWing wrote this down and smiled at them before bolting back to a different room in the building.

Less than a minute later, Shell returned with two bowls. She handed one to Tualang and the other to Nova. "Here you are! Enjoy~!" She said happily before moving on to another table.

Tualang absentmindedly watched her for a few seconds before peeling one of his oranges. "She looks maybe three years old. I'm surprised they let dragonets that young work here." He said curiously, tossing a slice of orange into his mouth.

Nova shrugged again. "Maybe they're just allowed to take small jobs, like waiters or shopkeep assistants. I see dragonets cleaning around the tents and stands and such all the time around here. They look happy doing so, too." She picked the leaves off her strawberries. "I doubt they're being forced to work. They look happy. If you were a dragonet living in this town, you'd want the money to buy stuff for yourself."

The RainWing blinked after swallowing a few more slices. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing." He said defensively. "Just different. Even in the rainforest, dragonets aren't typically allowed to help build huts or anything until they're a certain age. Don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Well, I suppose that's why we see these dragonets in easy jobs." Nova said after swallowing a juicy strawberry. "They're not likely to get hurt bussing tables or sweeping tent floors. Easy work for decent pay."

Tualang nodded slowly and finished the oranges before moving on to the bananas. As he peeled the first one, he kept his ears perked, listening for anything interesting.

So far, nothing.

"We may just be wasting our time here." He said sadly, taking a bite of the yellow fruit. Nova gave him a look of confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it may be hopeless to think that my father is anywhere near this city. For all we know, he could've died in the war and we're searching for a dead man right now."

"But he could also be alive and well," Nova countered, flicking her tail. "And we're searching for a dragon who never had the chance to raise his son. He might be overjoyed to see you."

"But he could also want nothing to do with me," Tualang frowned and finished the first banana. "I've read the letter. He's scared that Queen Coral will know he had a son. Why he's scared, I don't really know, but he is."

Nova rolled her eyes and lightly hit him with one of her wings. "Stop being such a downer, Tua." She said. "Your negativity is going to rub off on me." The NightWing cleared her throat and spoke again. "I'm confident that he'll want to see you, Tualang. Last I checked, the war has been over for two years now. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore."

Tualang looked down and sighed, slowly peeling his second banana. "You're right. I'm sorry." He said. "I just don't know where to start. We can only get so much information hanging around Inlet for a week or so."

"I'm sure we'll come across something pretty soon." Nova assured, smiling at him. "The city is big, but it's packed. Word spreads fast. If something big happens, that's our cue. We check it out- from a distance this time- and if it seems to relate to a 20-something year old SeaWing, we get a closer look."

As he took a bite of the banana, Tualang looked at her and gave a slight smile. "Thanks, Nova. I appreciate it."

"Not a problem. Just finish your lunch and we'll head out."

And that he did. A few minutes later, both of the dragons finished their fruit and threw away the peels. Tualang paid for the lunch with a few gold coins on the way out, leaving a small tip for Shell.

As they emerged back into the town square, Tualang got another good look at the surrounding shops. Seconds after Tualang backed away from an old MudWing trying to sell him a necklace, Nova nudged him. "There's a library." She said, nodding at a large building off in the distance. "If your father deserted from the SeaWing army- even if he later returned- there might be a record of him somewhere in there."

Tualang blinked. It didn't make a lot of sense to keep records like that, but this library was huge. It was entirely possible that there was something like that in its vast array of scrolls. It did seem to make sense that somebody somewhere in the continent would keep track of soldiers. Keeping tabs on their movements could help locate a lost squadron or plan an ambush or something. The more he thought about it, the more this idea actually made sense.

"I guess it's worth a try. Let's go." He said, pushing open the large wooden doors and entering the library.


	9. Chapter 8: Archive

**Chapter 8**

 _Archive_

Tualang had expected a large library, but he was still surprised at just how many scroll-filled shelves adorned the interior. He spotted a couple of young dragonets scanning the shelves curiously in different parts of the library before Nova's voice grabbed his attention.

"Hi, my name's Nova. This is Tualang." She introduced the duo to the librarian, a light orange SkyWing who was blind in one eye, judging from the black eyepatch. In addition, she had multiple scars on her sides and a few scratches on her neck. Clearly a soldier from the war.

"Good afternoon. Welcome to Inlet's library. Can I help you two find anything?" The SkyWing asked and Tualang nodded.

"Uh, yeah. We're trying to find a specific dragon but don't know where to start looking. His name, scale colors, and age are completely unknown to us." Tualang cleared his throat. "We assumed that there might be some sort of record in here left over from the war, like a scroll that kept track of certain soldiers and all that."

The SkyWing frowned, but there was a small look of curiosity plastered across her face. "Really? You actually want to see those?" She asked skeptically. "Nobody ever looks at those scrolls."

Yes, we do have them. They're gathering dust on the third floor, in the far corner over there. All we have are the SeaWing, MudWing and SkyWing logs, though, so if you're trying to find anything else, you're shit out of luck."

Tualang waved her off but gave a thankful look. "That's exactly what we need. Thank you, ma'am." He said and the SkyWing grunted something in response as he and Nova flew up to the third floor, heading over to the corner the librarian gestured to.

"Wow, she wasn't kidding about the dust." Nova chuckled as they reached a small wooden scroll rack. There were three large scrolls placed on the rack, all three appearing as old as the letter.

There were labels engraved into the ends of the scrolls. One read "MUDWINGS", the next read "SKYWINGS", and the final one read "SEAWINGS". Tualang grabbed the third one. "This is the one we want." He said, blowing the dust off the paper and unrolling the scroll.

 _SeaWing army - Known deserters, spies, and defectors._

"Yeah, this is the one." Tualang said again, nodding at the title. "If I had to guess, this is essentially Queen Coral's shit list. Someone probably kept track of all these names in case she wanted to punish them once they either returned to the Kingdom of the Sea or were captured."

Nova looked at the scroll curiously, reading over some of the names. "This is interesting. Some SeaWing named Trench defected with her dragonets seven years ago and was granted asylum by Queen Moorhen. Says she was repatriated a few months after the war ended but was thrown in prison regardless. Guess that's better than execution."

Tualang turned his attention to the list of names. "Those descriptions seem pretty detailed," He noted. "Help me find anything that puts a male SeaWing deserter a year or two before the brightest night."

He thought it was a good place to start. He was found in the hatchery just days before the brightest night all those years ago. If his father had been living in the forest until then, he would've needed time to get into a relationship and make an egg with another dragon. A year was a good guess.

"Let's see…" Nova frowned and read over the scroll multiple times, scanning each name carefully.

Minutes passed as the two of them read through the list many times over, looking for a description similar to what Tualang suggested. As each minute passed, Tualang began to lose a bit of hope. Maybe his father wasn't even on this list.

"AHA!" Nova said triumphantly and immediately clamped her claws over her mouth. It seemed like a bad idea to anger a SkyWing librarian. "I found something. Here." She said quietly, pointing to a few lines in the middle of the scroll.

Tualang narrowed his eyes at it and read over the text.

 _Sound_

 _Deserted during a training exercise in early 5,003 A.S._

 _Repatriated in late 5,005 A.S._

 _Claims to have gone on an unsanctioned scouting mission in the rainforest in an attempt to find any useful advantage in the war._

 _Spared capital punishment but thrown in solitary confinement until 5,011 A.S._

Tualang blinked. "So he really is a deserter." He said quietly, reading the text a few times over.

"Seems like it." Nova said, lightly poking the paper with one of her talons. "That's all it says about him, too. There's nothing here suggesting where he might be today or what he looks like. I'm sorry, Tua." She looked down at the paper sadly and Tualang shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, Nova. At least I actually know who he is. We know a lot more now than we did yesterday." He pointed out, brushing his wing against hers.

Part of the story still didn't make sense. Sound stayed in the rainforest for almost two years- long enough to father an egg- but left the moment said egg hatched. What was so scary about a RainWing/SeaWing hybrid that could cause a dragon to flee the forest in terror? The letter mentioned that Queen Coral would be furious if she knew about Tualang's existence.

But- again- why? What the hell was so frightening about a nervous dragon like himself that would interest the queen of the SeaWings? It didn't make one bit of sense to him. 'Put that on the growing list of things I want to ask once we find him.' He thought.

It was incredibly frustrating. He now knew his father's name and a bit of his history, but Sound's current whereabouts remained a mystery. Perhaps he could ask some of the SeaWings in town, but it seemed to Tualang that Sound was just an ordinary soldier. It wasn't likely that many SeaWings would know him.

Then again, deserting from the Kingdom of the Sea for almost two years would likely associate his name with infamy. Maybe Sound was well known, just for all the wrong reasons.

The sound of Nova's voice brought him back from his thoughts.

"I guess you're right. It's a good deal of information compared to what we had just hours ago." She said, a wide smile appearing across her face. Carefully, she rolled the scroll back up and returned it to the shelf. "Don't think we can find anything else in that scroll that can help us. Now for the next step."

Tualang frowned at the three scrolls. "Yeah. Let's go." He said, and the duo returned to the bottom floor. "I remember seeing an old SeaWing running a pottery shop in one of the more secluded corners of town. He seems like the kind of guy that never forgets a face. I'm going to start there. Maybe he knows where Sound is."

Nova shrugged and ruffled her wings a bit. "It's possible. I can go ask around in another part of town, if you'd like." She suggested, to which Tualang slowly nodded.

"That would be extremely helpful, thank you."

Nova spread her wings and gave him a happy grin. "Don't mention it. Meet me back here in an hour, yeah?"

Tualang nodded and smiled back at her. "Will do. Good luck, Nova." He said and took to the sky, flying over the town square and all the dragons in the street as he made his way to the pottery store.

It only took him a few seconds to reach his destination: a less crowded square with a few shops adorning the surrounding walls. It wasn't very busy in this area. A few dragons stood around the shops but the pottery shop was relatively vacant. Tualang walked over and entered the store.

The old, dark green SeaWing glanced up from his desk as he heard the RainWing enter. "Can I help you?" He asked.

There was a small, framed painting on the corner of his desk depicting him standing next to a burly female MudWing. Inscribed in the wooden frame was "Mariner and Porcelain". Tualang assumed the two dragons were married. Both appeared around the same age and the painting looked rather recent. In addition, Mariner wore a gold ring around one of his talons on his left claw.

"Uh, hi." Tualang greeted the old SeaWing. Mariner pushed his glasses up on his face and looked at the other dragon. "I'm afraid I'm not here to buy anything today."

Mariner frowned and looked back down at the scroll he was reading. "Well, then what are you here for, RainWing?" He asked, slight irritation prevalent in his voice.

Tualang swallowed the lump in his throat. 'Just get the words out.' He thought to himself. "I'm, uh, looking for a certain SeaWing and my friend and I thought it a good idea to go around asking local SeaWings if they know anything about him."

The old SeaWing snorted but didn't look up from his scroll. "What, so I'm being interrogated by a RainWing because he thinks I know some random dragon? Are you aware how many SeaWings there are in the world, kid?"

Tualang sighed and frowned at Mariner. "Let me finish, please. I'll be out of your way in just a few minutes." He cleared his throat. "His name is Sound. You know, infamous SeaWing deserter?"

Mariner looked up with an indescribable expression on his face. "Sound? Why are you looking for that coward?" He asked. It wasn't until now that Tualang noticed the bracelet sitting on the counter behind Mariner. It was silver with some strange black insignia carved into the metal.

Was that the same design the SkyWings in the alley were wearing…?

"Well," Tualang began before pausing. Sound had risked his life to keep the secret that he had a son. Maybe he shouldn't go boasting that he was looking for his SeaWing father. "I'm looking for him because he owes me something. Do you know him? Where is he?"

Mariner blinked and took off his glasses, scowling at Tualang. "I do know him, but I do not know where he is. That has been a mystery to most of us ever since Queen Coral decided to let him out of prison early instead of forcing him to serve his sentence."

"What was his sentence?"

"So many questions…" Mariner groaned. "Life imprisonment. He's pretty infamous. Tends to happen when you're one of Queen Coral's top spies and you desert in the middle of a training exercise. Anyway, it is absolutely beyond me that she decided to let Sound walk free after serving only six years of his sentence."

Tualang blinked. "Right…" He said, nodding slowly before turning his attention to the shelves. "That's all the questions I have, thank you." The RainWing scanned the shelves before finding a pair of small earrings with a blend of amethyst and diamond encrusted in little teardrops.

"I suppose it's only fair I buy something for taking your time." He placed the earrings on Mariner's desk and fished out the gold coins to pay for it. "Thanks again for your time."

Mariner grunted something in return as Tualang paid for the earrings and started towards the exit. As he left, Mariner narrowed his eyes and spotted the gills on Tualang's neck.

"A RainWing looking for Sound. How interesting." He muttered before pausing and repeating the words under his breath. "A RainWing with gills. A RainWing that appears to be nine years old. A RainWing looking for Sound. Sound returned to the Kingdom of the Sea nine years ago."

His eyes widened and Porcelain entered from the back room. "What's up with you? You look like you've seen a ghost." She said and Mariner looked at her with a sly grin.

"Not a ghost, my dear." He hummed and put the silver and black bracelet on his wrist. "But something else."

"And what might that be?" The female MudWing asked, a bracelet of her own adorning her left wrist.

"Tell the others to get ready for an extraction," Mariner began. "Sound has a son, and he's right here in Inlet."


	10. Chapter 9: Impend

_**Chapter 9**_

 _Impend_

As he left the pottery shop, Tualang quickly put on the small diamond-amethyst earrings. The blend actually looked quite nice and he was pleasantly surprised he had enough gold to afford them. They were small, but he liked the feeling of buying something like that for himself.

The only jewelry he'd ever had consisted of small wooden rings he'd carve out of boredom back when he was a small dragonet. Sometimes he'd paint them as well. When he was still a dragonet, long before he learned to take much seriously, he constantly made and painted tons of these rings in case he ever worked up the courage to talk to a girl, or at least any other dragons not named Stick or Ivy.

Truth be told, Tualang didn't say much when he was younger. He would play with the neighboring dragonets and join in on their games, but seldom would he open his mouth. In fact, most dragonets assumed he was mute because of this.

Eventually the day arrived when he came out of his shell, even if just a little bit. At the age of two, he went exploring the rainforest with three other RainWings he believed to be his friends. It was then he first met Grapevine.

The trio he went into the trees with abandoned him as part of a cruel joke shortly after arriving in a section of the forest Tualang was unfamiliar with. Panic set in rather quickly as the previously friendly-looking trees became strangers, donning faces he could not recognize.

" _Where am I?" Tualang said to himself, eyes welling up with tears. Berry, Woodpecker, and Clover were just here moments ago. Why did they leave? They knew he didn't know this part of the forest. Maybe they forgot something back in the village and went to get it and just forgot to tell him. Maybe one of them stubbed a talon and the others followed him to the healers, accidentally forgetting about Tualang in the process._

" _Guys?" He tried again, a few tears streaming down his cheeks. "Where did you go?" He sat down by a small stream and looked at the canopy above. These trees were not the familiar, inviting pillars he saw back home. These trees scared him. He was surrounded by faces in the bark he didn't recognize and there were no clues in sight pertaining to the direction of the RainWing village._

" _Please… please, it's not funny, guys. It's not…" Tualang sobbed, emerald green eyes darting between the trees. The trees were laughing at him. "I'm lost, I'm lost..."_

 _Ironic. A RainWing lost in what was essentially his own backyard. He'd laugh but he was too busy fearing for his safety. All he wanted to do now was run into Stick's loving arms and wrap him in a big hug. Ivy right after that._

 _Tualang buried his face in his claws and sobbed. Stick would have to come find him eventually. He already missed his bed. He missed his parents, he missed having a familiar sight gracing his eyes._

 _After what felt like an hour passed, Tualang heard some shuffling in the trees to his left. He tentatively looked up, his cheeks covered in tears and small red rings around the edges of his green eyes. "Hello?" He called quietly._

 _Seconds later, the most beautiful RainWing he'd seen in his young life emerged from the treeline. Her scales were a happy pink color with dots of yellow and she had a smile on her face that eventually forced Tualang to crack one of his own. She blinked at him, the smile fading for a few seconds before it returned and she carefully walked over._

" _Hi!" She exclaimed before noticing the tears. "Why are you crying? Why are you sad?" She asked and Tualang looked down. "I'm lost. My friends left me." He said quietly. The combination of his usual reserved nature and the arrival of this pretty girl was making him incredibly nervous. Was this another cruel joke? Did she lose a bet and as a consequence have to talk to him?_

" _Those sound like bad friends." She said, grabbing one of his claws with her gentle touch, causing him to blush and instinctively turn a light pink-rose color. "That's not nice at all. What are their names? I'll chase them down and shout a few mean words at them! Oh, but then I'm not being nice. Then I'm a hip of crate!"_

 _Tualang looked in her eyes and found a smile crawling across his face and he brushed the wet tears off his face. "Tualang." He said, only hearing her utter "what" and "name"._

" _Tualang?" She said curiously. "I don't think I've met him. IN ANY CASE, he sounds like a bully. Maybe I'll put spiders in his hammock. Or better yet, locusts! Ew, now I'm just grossing myself out." The female dragonet giggled._

 _Tualang blinked before realization dawned on him. "No, I'm Tualang. Sorry. I didn't hear what you said." He apologized sheepishly. "Please don't put bugs in my hammock."_

 _She blinked and cracked a wide smile once again. "Fiiiiiiiiiiiine." She said with an over exaggerated sigh. "I won't put bugs in YOUR hammock. You seem too nice to warrant that kind of thing." The female dragonet looked back in his eyes and brushed her wing against his, eliciting another blush across Tualang's face._

" _My name is Grapevine." She said happily, curiously watching Tualang's scales shift colors before her eyes._

' _Stop it. You're embarrassing me.' He thought to himself, wanting to growl at his own scales. He listened to her intently, nodding his head. "Nice to meet you, Grapevine." Tualang said before a question came to mind. "What are you doing all the way out here, anyway?" He asked._

 _Grapevine perked up. "I like looking for fruit in this area. A LOT of this stuff tastes better than what grows around the village." She picked a peach and handed it to him. "Here, try. I especially like these."_

 _Tualang blinked and shrugged before biting into the fruit. Sweet flavor filled his mouth instantly and he recoiled slightly. He chewed up the small piece that was in his mouth and swallowed it, eyes wide. "Wow, that IS sweet." He said, a bit surprised. He was no stranger to peaches but none of them were ever as good as this one._

" _Yeah! That's why I like this area. Nobody takes fruit from here," Grapevine said and added in a singsong voice: "Except meeeeeeeee!"_

 _Tualang grinned and quickly ate the rest of the peach. "Your own personal fruit stash. Clever." He said and looked back at her with a more serious expression on his little face. "Um… I don't like asking favors, but can you…" He frowned, unable to get the words out on his first try. "Can you help me find the village again? I don't know the way from here."_

 _Grapevine gathered a small basket of peaches and faced him with a happy smile. "Absolutely!" She said, brushing their wings together again. "It'll give me the opportunity to see where you live anyway. That way, I can come over and play any time!" She paused. "That is, if you'd like to be friends."_

 _Tualang grabbed a few peaches of his own and smiled back at her. "I would like that." He said and followed her through the treeline. They would be walking back home. It would give them more time to talk. "I don't have many friends."_

" _Well, you have one now!" Grapevine said, biting into a peach. "I'm going to call you Tua, by the way. I think that's a good nickname. Do you like it?"_

" _I do! It's easier to say than Tualang, at least." Tualang thought for a moment. "Can I call you Grape? I know it's not a terrific nickname, but…"_

" _I like it!" She exclaimed, finishing the peach she was munching on. "Tua and Grape. Best friends for life… And maybe even after that! Best friends in the afterlife!"_

" _I like the sound of that." He mused as they continued through the trees._

Tualang gave a sad sigh as he started down the cobblestone road. He used to treasure a lot of those memories. Now all they did was make him sad. It still didn't completely dawn on him that Grapevine was dead. She was the love of his life and she was now gone, stolen from his life- from this world- far too soon.

'Maybe she's right. Maybe I should move on.' Tualang thought as he made his way to the town square. He didn't feel like asking around any more. He was taken completely out of the mood thanks to his memories.

'But I can't just completely forget her.'

He ventured into the town square and was greeted with the sight of Sol and Orion having a drinking contest in the same bar he saw earlier. Tualang rolled his eyes and continued along, not wanting to get involved.

There was a small beach right on the edge of town. After a few moments of thinking, Tualang took to the sky and made his way to the beach, gently setting down on the sand. The grainy substance snuck between his talons uncomfortably and he looked down at it with a bit of disdain.

The beach was rather quiet. Only a few dragons were there, most of them SeaWings. Near the water, an older SeaWing was teaching his two dragonets how to swim. They would splash each other before erupting in a fit of laughter, their father laughing along with them. 'Must be nice.' He found himself thinking, carefully stepping towards the water.

Swimming was not something he did very often. The closest thing to swimming he did in the forest was play in the shallow streams when he was younger. As such, he never realized his ability to breathe underwater.

'Might as well try it out now, right?' He thought and walked a bit further out, the water reaching up to his shoulders. 'Here goes nothing.'

Tualang took a deep breath and closed his eyes before plunging underwater.

It was like entering a completely different world. He felt his gills instinctively pump sharp salt water into his neck and shoot it out seconds later, causing him to wince. The salt water was uncomfortable, but quickly became tolerable.

Tualang carefully opened his eyes, fully expecting them to burn because of the water. Instead, everything felt fine. He let go of the air in his mouth and let his gills take over, blinking in pleasant surprise. He could see everything down here.

'Maybe I have Sound's eyes as well.' He realized, remembering that SeaWings could see well in the dark and- to that extent- underwater. Every detail of the seafloor was clear to the point where he thought he could even count the individual grains of sand.

Tualang blinked again. He was only a few feet underwater but felt a longing to go deeper. With a grin and a sarcastic roll of his eyes, he swam down with a strong push from his wings. Even with the push, he realized he wasn't moving very fast. His only SeaWing traits were his gills and his eyes. He lacked the webbing and large tails typical SeaWings possessed to help them swim faster. 'Thanks again, Sound.'

He curiously swam deeper for a few more minutes before some flashes in the corner of his eye caught his attention. With a frown, he turned to face the light and saw two SeaWings talking in aquatic.

'Something I probably need to learn if I decide to spend a lot of my life underwater.' He realized, thinking of how he could communicate. Maybe he could copy a typical SeaWing scale pattern and turn the bioluminescent parts a bright yellow or green color as an alternative way of talking in aquatic? Definitely something he'd have to look into later on. 'Sound can probably teach me aquatic. Then we can explore the sea together, father and son, and make up for the time he was absent from my life.'

Tualang found himself frowning again. 'That is if he even wants to see me.' He wanted to sigh, but he was underwater. He did the next best thing and pictured himself sighing on the beach.

The feeling of someone watching him pulled Tualang back from his thoughts. He glanced over at the two SeaWings and noticed they were looking at him. One of them was wearing the same armband that was on Mariner's shelf and on the arms of the SkyWings in the alley. Tualang gave the duo a skeptical look and they continued to flash at each other, taking quick glances at him.

'Maybe they're surprised to see a RainWing breathing underwater.'

Their glances quickly became uncomfortable and Tualang suddenly lost the desire to swim. He blinked at the two SeaWings before darting back up to the surface, stepping out of the salt water and feeling the sand scrunch between his talons again. As he emerged from the water, he noticed the sun was preparing to disappear below the horizon.

'Time really flies around here.' He noted, also realizing that the SeaWing family he spotted playing by the shore had since left. Tualang was now alone on the beach.

That lasted for a good minute or so before the two older SeaWings sprung out of the water and stared at him from a short distance away. Tualang looked at them suspiciously before noticing a few other dragons- mainly SeaWings- approaching from another direction, including Mariner and his wife.

All of them were wearing the silver and black armbands.

"What is this?" Tualang asked, a bit of a growl escaping his throat. He could hear a few different voices from the small pack of dragons.

"Cute, he's growling at us."

"That's him?"

"He's a little bigger than your average RainWing."

"This is Sound's son? Seriously?"

Tualang scowled at them and took a step back. "I'll ask again. What is this?" He demanded, digging his front talons into the sand. At that moment, he saw Mariner and Porcelain step forward, accompanied by the dull gold SandWing from the alley.

Something about him seemed off, however. The SandWing didn't utter a single word and followed the other two without hesitation.

"Sound told us he never had dragonets." Mariner mused, staring at Tualang's scales, which broke his usual purple/orange/green/blue pattern in favor of red and orange. "Seems like that was yet another lie of his."

Mariner frowned at Tualang. "We need you to come with us." He said, more of an order than a request.

Tualang hissed. "And what if I say no?" He asked, flaring his gills angrily.

"We'll persuade you." Mariner said with a sly smile, gesturing to Porcelain and the SandWing, both of them standing firmly on either side of the old green SeaWing.

"I can't leave without my…" Tualang paused, trying to find the right word. Allies? Acquaintances? Partners?

Friends?

Mariner snorted and took another step forward. "They're not important." He said dismissively and the SandWing walked behind Tualang. "Enough chit-chat. You're coming with us." Mariner hummed and waved a talon at the SandWing.

Before Tualang could scream, yell, or run away, before he had any clue what was about to happen, the SandWing took out some sort of baton and swiftly crashed it against the back of Tualang's head.

Tualang felt himself go limp before everything went dark a few seconds later.


	11. Chapter 10: Faction

_**Chapter 10**_

 _Faction_

Tualang slowly returned to consciousness, his eyelids peeling open and his blurry vision slowly adjusting to the area around him. Right off the bat, he noticed two things. One, he was in some sort of room. Two, he had a massive headache.

He blinked and pressed a claw against the back of his head, slowly remembering the baton that came crashing down against his skull.

'I'm not in Inlet.' He thought as he blinked a few more times, clearing his vision. 'But I'm not in a jail cell either.'

The room seemed to be just a normal room. There was a bed stocked with blankets and pillows, a few windows, a mirror, and even what appeared to be a balcony. This was no dungeon. It seemed whoever brought him here wanted him to be as comfortable as possible.

With a pained grunt, he stood up and slowly walked over to the mirror. His reflection stared back at him and he frowned at his changing scale colors, forcing them back to his usual, favorite pattern.

'There we go.' He thought, smiling slightly at the combination of purple, green, blue, and orange. Seldom did he use his scales to express his emotions on a regular basis. Only when he was distracted did he allow them to shift on their own. As such, he specifically designed a pattern for himself to use in order to help hide his true emotions.

Just as he was finishing, he heard someone enter the room. Tualang whirled around and spotted the SandWing, unable to stop the rings around his eyes burning up into a red color. "You!" He shouted, flaring his gills angrily.

The SandWing was still in his vest-like harness and his goggles still covered his eyes, but his bandana was no longer covering his mouth. He glanced at Tualang and sighed. "Calm down, idiot. I'm not here to hurt you." He grunted, approaching one of the beds.

'Oh. That bed is his.' Tualang thought and it dawned on him that this room was too large for just one dragon. He also finally noticed the hammock strung up on the other side of the room.

"In case you haven't noticed, I live here." The SandWing said, flicking his barbed tail.

"Sorry, brain is running kind of slow. I just woke up. Y'know, might have something to do with the baton to the back of the head and all. Thanks again." Tualang snipped.

"Oh for- okay, look." The SandWing stomped over and glared (Tualang assumed he was glaring, anyway) at him. "There are a lot of things about me you don't know and will never understand. I wanted no part of any of this."

"Then why did you attack me?"

"Because something with your idiot father, apparently!" He shouted, throwing up his wings in exasperation. "I don't know. I told them to keep me out of their affairs, yet they keep managing to bring me back against my will."

Tualang blinked. "Against… against your will?" He asked, genuinely confused.

The SandWing sighed. "It's a long story." He said, carefully taking off his goggles and placing them on his forehead, exposing his eyes. That caught Tualang off guard. Instead of the typical pitch black eyes of a SandWing, this dragon's eyes were a sea of blood red with black pupils.

He realized he was staring too long and pried his gaze away from the dragon's strange eyes. "Oh. Well, we have time." He suggested, shrugging a little.

The SandWing glared at him again. "When I say 'It's a long story', that's code for either 'I don't want to talk about it' or 'Hey, let's change the topic'. Mkay? Good. Glad that's settled." He said, snorting and walking back over to the bed.

Tualang felt a bolt of shame go through him and winced. "Sorry," He said sheepishly, looking down for a few moments. "Could I… Could I at least get your name? So I know what to call you?" He asked, eliciting a tired sigh from the other dragon.

"Vegas." He said flatly, climbing into the bed and absentmindedly looking around the room. "Don't bother telling me yours, by the way. Tualang. I already know."

Tualang was about to ask something else until he noticed Vegas had fallen asleep. "Good talk." He muttered, pacing around the room.

It still wasn't clear to him where he was. Why did these dragons want him? Was it something to do with his father? Where are Nova, Orion, and Sol? Did they know he left?

'The balcony.' He realized, looking at the porch connected to the cave he was in. He stepped outside and was greeted by the sight of...

Mountains. As far as his eyes could see, mountains.

'Claws of the Clouds. We're somewhere in the Sky Kingdom.'

Tualang frowned at the surrounding peaks. Each one looked identical. No doubt the mountain he was in was the same way. Even if Nova and the others realized he was missing, there was no obvious way for them to find him.

"You're awake." Called a voice from behind him. He whirled around, startled, and the dragon standing in the doorway gave a dismissive wave. "Calm down. Nobody is going to hurt you."

The dragon was a NightWing appearing to be around the age of 30. Strangely enough, his scales were all a dark or light grey color as opposed to typical blends of black, purple, and grey. His light green eyes were intimidating, yet not malicious. Like the other dragons- save for Tualang and Vegas- he wore a pair of bracelets with the black insignia carved into them. However, his were primarily gold instead of silver.

Tualang found himself having to look up to meet the NightWing's gaze because of his size. He had to be at least two times his height.

"Who are you?" Tualang asked, frowning at the grey dragon.

The NightWing grinned. "My name is Ghost. I'm the leader of this group." He introduced himself, ruffling his wings. "We call ourselves the Faction for the Future."

Tualang blinked in a mix of confusion and curiosity. "You're the 'Faction' Vegas mentioned the other night." He said, studying Ghost's dull grey scales. "What do you do?"

Ghost stepped over to the edge of the balcony and glanced at the noon sky. "We study the future and make predictions about it based on current trends." He explained, meeting Tualang's gaze momentarily.

"Trying to solve problems before they arise." Tualang guessed, eliciting a small nod from Ghost.

"Yes. I formed this group shortly after the end of the war. For the longest time, it was just myself and a few other dragons living in a hut in Possibility. As the years went on, we gained members. Dragons liked the idea of preventing conflict before it starts."

It did sound interesting. A large group of dragons working together to figure out what might happen and- realistically- how they could stop it.

Tualang started thinking about it before stopping himself as more important matters came to mind. "So, wait. Bear with me. Why am I here?" He asked, causing Ghost to blink in confusion. "I mean, why am I important to this? I didn't ask to join. I was quite literally kidnapped."

Ghost winced. "A slight error in Mariner's ways. He wasn't supposed to force you to come here. You were supposed to decide that for yourself- and your friends- once you were told why you would be interested in the Faction." He rolled his eyes. "My associates were under quite clear orders to convince you to come here, not kidnap you. Convincing would have worked just fine."

Tualang blinked again. "How do you know that?" He asked incredulously, causing Ghost to look at him and wink. "Call it a lucky guess. Let's say I have connections."

"I'm going to venture it has something to do with a dragon whose name rhymes with 'hound'."

"Correct."

Tualang's face lit up. "Is he here? Is that why you brought me here, to see him? Can I see him?" He asked, only to be waved off by Ghost.

"All in due time, boy." He said, not bothering to look at Tualang this time. The NightWing's gaze was fixed on the mountains surrounding their own. "Beautiful, isn't it? This mountain of ours- Strader Mountain- is tucked right in the middle of a cluster of mountains. Almost complete privacy from the rest of the world. No sensible dragon would willingly venture into these mountains, not even the local SkyWings who- mind you- love to live in the peaks. We're too far north for them to care."

Strader Mountain was nowhere near being the tallest mountain in the area. In fact, it was one of the smallest. A small, insignificant mountain hidden between much larger mountains.

Clearly not so insignificant as it seemed, however. Somehow, the Faction had managed to make an entire network of tunnels inside the mountain and provide rooms with windows and balconies without being discovered.

Impressive.

Tualang frowned and gazed at the sky. "If the Faction has good intentions, why the cloak and dagger?" He asked, flicking his tail. "Wouldn't it make more sense to set up shop somewhere most dragons can easily find?"

Ghost sighed and shook his head. "Not exactly. After the whole Talons of Peace fiasco during the war, public opinion of independent societies like this is pretty negative. That's why we have to recruit and operate from the shadows. I don't want my associates getting hurt."

That did make a bit of sense. Approaching random dragons in broad daylight in cities such as Inlet, Possibility, Sundown, Scorpion Den, etc would likely result in you getting your throat ripped to shreds. The Talons of Peace were hated, so it was logical to assume that another group focused on righting everyone else's wrongs would receive the same scrutiny.

"I can understand that, I guess." Tualang said quietly, drumming his talons against the stone floor.

"Of course you can. That's one of the things I like about you." Ghost said with a slight grin on his face. "Always thinking about the bigger picture, never acting on selfish impulse. You're smart for a RainWing. No offense, of course."

"That's probably my SeaWing half. Or at least, my non-RainWing half." Tualang said with a nervous chuckle. "The gears are always turning. Even when I was a dragonet, I'd be constantly barraged by thoughts such as 'Yeah, a nap does sound nice right about now, but what about all these problems you could be solving?'."

Ghost glanced at him. "Your father is like that. In his mind, there's always something going on. It's never 'solve one problem and relax', it's 'solve a problem and find another one'. You could call it paranoid, sure. But there's a line between paranoia and just being logical."

"I guess I know where I get that from." Tualang laughed. "I used to be afraid of eating because of the possibility that I would choke to death. There's always something that can go wrong, so the safe thing to do is just never make decisions. But you can't do that, of course, because the time will come when you have to come out of your shell, step up, and do the right thing."

"Selfless," Ghost mused, tapping his grey chin. "Smart. Two things you don't see very often in RainWings, or many other dragons for that matter. Your friends are lucky to have you, even if they don't appreciate that yet." He glanced at Tualang again, as if studying him with his light green eyes. "I hope you don't mind me asking- this is a little personal- but do you have anyone special in your life?"

"Special?" Tualang asked before it dawned on him. His wings drooped in sadness as he remembered Grapevine. "Oh. Um… I did. Her name was Grapevine."

"Grapevine? That's a nice name. How is she now?"

Tualang paused and felt his voice snag momentarily and he closed his eyes for a few seconds, picturing her beautiful, joyful face. "She's…" He cleared his throat. "She died. A little over a week ago." He said quietly.

'You are NOT going to cry, Tualang. Not here, not now, not in front of this dragon.'

Ghost blinked and gave Tualang an apologetic look. "Oh." He looked away with a bit of regret prevalent on his face. "I'm… sorry to hear that."

Tualang rubbed his eyes and looked back at Ghost, forcing a smile. "Don't be. It's nobody's fault. She just happened to come down with something a few months ago that couldn't be cured. Not even the best healers in the forest knew what to do."

There was a strange look on Ghost's face for a few seconds but the big NightWing snuffed it out in a split second. He turned to face Tualang again. "Well, I'm glad she was able to spend her last moments with a dragon such as yourself." He said.

'Please stop talking about her. I don't want the memories flooding my head again.'

"Mhm." Tualang mumbled. Ghost didn't say another word about it. Perhaps he read the look on Tualang's face, which made sense.

Or maybe his scales were changing colors again. Stupid scales.

After a long silence, Ghost sighed and started towards the doorway. "Well, I'll give you some time to rest and get comfortable. If you have any questions, feel free to come find me or ask the SandWing there." Seconds later, he was gone.

Tualang blinked. 'Yeah, I have a few questions. When can I leave? What the fuck am I even doing here? Can I at least go get Sol, Nova, and Orion? Hell, even Orion's company would be nice.' He thought angrily. His quick chat with Ghost answered none of his questions. All he knew was that the Faction was a thing and there was some noise about his father.

Nothing else.

'Typical mysterious NightWings.' He thought with a bit of annoyance as he found the hammock hanging in the corner of the room. 'Vague and cryptic. Can't even give a dragon a clear answer.'

He closed his eyes and started to fall asleep. His nap was interrupted, however, by a feeling of warmth standing next to his hammock. Seconds later, a warm scaled claw made contact with his shoulder, shaking him a few times.

Tualang's eyes peeled open and he was surprised to see Vegas calmly staring at him with his blood red eyes as he pulled his claw away.

"I know you want some answers. Come with me."


	12. Chapter 11: Special Guests

**_Chapter 11_**

 _Special Guests_

Tualang blinked and frowned at the SandWing standing next to his hammock. "What?" He asked, getting distracted by his red eyes for a split second.

"I said come with me. You really think I was asleep that whole time?" Vegas grunted, nodding at the balcony. "I heard your entire conversation with Ghost. Same old Ghost, keeping everything under a veil of secrecy."

The RainWing climbed out of his hammock, wincing momentarily as a throbbing pain went through his temples. 'Maybe I should've asked Ghost for something to take care of this headache.' He thought with a bit of annoyance.

He stared at Vegas skeptically for a few moments. "Alright. I'll go. You need to answer my questions, however."

"That's the whole point, genius." Vegas rolled his eyes and stepped out of Tualang's way as he climbed out of the hammock. "I'm going to help you find answers. I just can't tell you everything myself."

"And why is that?"

"It's… a long story. Ironically, another one I can't tell right now."

"This place just reeks with secrecy, doesn't it?" Tualang growled in frustration.

"Unfortunately, yes." Vegas said and the two walked towards the door that led into a large hallway. "Let me show you around."

The two of them started down the cave network. Surprisingly, the tunnels were relatively empty. They ran into a few Faction members here and there but for the most part, they had no trouble navigating through the mountain.

"That's the council room." Vegas nodded at a tunnel that was blocked off by a large set of doors. "Ghost holds meetings there with his most trusted associates. There, they decide what's best for the Faction and if any big steps should be taken to fix a certain problem." He looked at the opposite wall towards another large set of doors. "That's where Ghost lives. His chambers. Almost nobody ever sees the inside of that room except him."

"That's not suspicious at all." Tualang said, causing Vegas to shrug.

"Maybe he just likes his privacy. I wouldn't let dragons waltz into my room whenever they wanted." He said, but there was doubt prevalent in his voice.

The duo continued down the hall and eventually came across yet another large set of doors. However, these were nowhere near as fancy as the ones guarding the council room and Ghost's chambers. There were large, but dull and grey.

"This is where Ghost keeps his- what he refers to as- 'special guests'." Vegas said, glancing around before pushing one of the doors open and ushering Tualang inside, following seconds later and closing the door behind them.

"It looks like a dungeon," Tualang said with a frown. "Not somewhere you'd house important members or guests."

Vegas winced as they passed a few empty caves. "You're telling me. Ghost insists this is important to the Faction's goals. I don't really understand it." He said and swallowed the lump in his throat. "A few months ago, there was an icescales IceWing that Ghost managed to bring here. He ended up starving himself to death, but a week or so ago, Ghost found another. She's in one of these rooms."

"Icescales?" The RainWing asked.

The SandWing nodded. "Yeah. You know, like firescales but with ice? Instead of burning, an IceWing with this condition freezes everything they touch. It was a bit tricky to get them here, but it's not impossible."

Tualang stopped walking, frowning and tapping his chin in confusion. "Wait, Ghost was pretty insistent on the fact that dragons decided to come here. Not that they were captured or kidnapped like I was."

Vegas wrinkled his snout. "You really think he was telling the truth? Ghost may seem like a good guy, but if he believes a certain dragon can help the Faction, said dragon will end up at Strader Mountain whether they want to be here or not."

"Why am I not surprised?" Tualang sighed, continuing to walk with Vegas. "More evil NightWings. Hooray."

"So, what brought you to Inlet in the first place?" Vegas blurted, steering away from the conversation about Ghost without warning.

Tualang blinked incredulously. "Um… Weren't we just-" Vegas cut him off with a glare. Tualang cleared his throat and started again. "I was looking for clues about my father, Sound. You know, notorious SeaWing deserter?"

Vegas nodded. "I do know about him. He was one of Queen Coral's best spies during the war. Before he abandoned the SeaWings, of course." He sniffed the air and started down the hall to the left. "This way."

The duo nearly reached the end of the hallway when a glimmer of light pink and white caught the corner of his eye. He paused and glanced through the bars of the door and spotted a female IceWing, curled up in the middle of the room, fast asleep.

"Who is that?" Tualang asked and Vegas glanced into the room with a sigh.

"That's the IceWing I told you Ghost brought here a little over a week ago."

"...Interesting." The RainWing breathed, studying her light pink scales. He noticed she wasn't chained to the wall, ground, or any other surface. There were no shackles in sight.

'Some sort of hybrid, I reckon. Those wings are too big for a normal IceWing.' He thought, looking at her pink scales again.

"Hey, slug, come on." Vegas said, nudging him and Tualang reluctantly backed away from the room.

They quietly continued down the hall for a few more minutes before stumbling upon a dead end, blocked by a large boulder.

"Oh, wow." Tualang said sarcastically. "A big boulder. This really answers all of my questions. Thanks, Vegas. I really understand what's going on now."

Vegas growled at him in annoyance and pushed him out of the way. "Shut up. We're not there yet." He said, placing his palm on the boulder, closing his eyes, and muttering a few words under his breath.

"What? Are you confessing your love to a ro- Whoooooaaaaa." Tualang was cut off mid sentence as the boulder floated up and disappeared in the ceiling seconds later. "What the hell…"

The SandWing opened his eyes and grinned at Tualang. "Surprise. Secret door." He said, stepping into the now-unblocked cave, Tualang following seconds later. Right after he entered, the boulder emerged from the ceiling and sealed off the tunnel behind them.

"So, what? Are you an animus or something?" Tualang asked, raising a ridge. Vegas shook his head with a small chuckle.

"Not me. Someone else enchanted that rock. I just so happen to know the secret passcode."

"Yeah? What did you do, ask it nicely?"

"You could say that."

Tualang blinked at him, still confused, but his attention was turned elsewhere. This room was no ordinary cave. In fact, it took Tualang a few seconds to realize he was standing on sand. As his eyes adjusted to the light provided from an unknown source, he noticed this was a beach. A synthetic, indoor beach, complete with water, sand, and heat.

The cave was huge, too. Almost as big as the beach in Inlet. There was no way for it to fit inside the mountain without being discovered, unless…

'Unless it was made by an animus.' He thought, facetaloning. 'The door should have made that clear.'

"What now, Ghost?" Yelled an irritated voice from somewhere else in the room. Tualang's ears perked up as he noticed a large, steel blue SeaWing emerge from the shore, rubbing his eyes. "I told you, I'm not interested in your stupid council meetings."

'So Vegas took me to visit some random SeaWing. Cool. More leads on Sound, maybe?'

The SeaWing grumbled and sauntered over to the duo, a bit of a relieved look finding its way across his face as he spotted them. "Oh, just Vegas. What are you doing back at the Faction?"

Vegas cleared his throat and quietly stepped back, causing the SeaWing to frown at him before meeting Tualang's gaze. "And a RainWing. Is Ghost recruiting RainWing spies now?" He asked and Vegas just shrugged.

"I had the same thought the other day." He chuckled, taking another step back.

'What's he doing?' Tualang thought with a frown at the SandWing, staring back at the SeaWing seconds later. The steel blue dragon gave him an equally confused look, his eyes scanning the RainWing in front of him. He paused as he noticed the gills on his neck, eyes darting back up to meet Tualang's own.

"Wait. Those eyes." The SeaWing said quietly, taking a step forward. "Those eyes… I'd recognize them anywhere."

Tualang drew in a sharp breath as realization quickly dawned on him.

"My eyes." The SeaWing mumbled, touching Tualang's gills. "My gills."

He met Tualang's gaze and he noticed tears welling up in the corners of the SeaWing's eyes.

"My son… I've finally found you."

There was an awkward silence for few seconds. Sound stared at his son with wide, teary eyes while Tualang stared back, mostly unsure what to think.

Sound stepped forward to embrace his son and Tualang responded by hitting him in the face with his wing. "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?" He shouted as Sound recoiled, covering his cheek in shock.

"Wh-what?" Sound asked, snapping out of his daze.

"I said," Tualang growled, whacking him with his wing again, this time a bit softer. "Where were you?" He cleared his throat and felt some tears of his own escape his emerald green eyes. "My entire life, I've been wondering who you were, why you left, why you decided to ABANDON me."

"In the past few days, I discovered that you deserted to the rainforest all those years ago. You stayed for almost two years before suddenly leaving around the time I hatched." He wiped some tears from his face and looked his father in the eyes. "Why? Why did you do it? Why did you leave?"

Sound stared at the ground and Tualang noticed a few tears hit the sand. "I…" His voice snagged and he looked at his son. "I didn't want to leave."

"Then why did you?" Tualang asked quietly.

"Because, I-" He paused, staring at Tualang's face. "I couldn't risk it. Queen Coral would have taken you and killed me for trying to hide you."

"But why me? What is so important about me?!" Tualang shouted, flaring his gills.

Sound swallowed again and grabbed his son's talons, holding them tightly. "My son, one thing the SeaWings yearned for the most during the war… A weapon with strength unparalleled by anything else in the continent… You're it." He cleared his throat and tried again. "If they knew what you were, they would use you- my beautiful son- as a weapon, a slave to your own power. I didn't want that. Your existence could not be known."

The pieces were starting to fall into place, but Tualang still wanted to hear his father say the words. He drew a sharp breath as Sound spoke again.

"The night you hatched, I felt a strange power in your talons that- at the time- had not been witnessed for years in my tribe." Sound carefully wrapped his son in a hug. "My son, what you are is an animus."


	13. Chapter 12: Sound

**_Chapter 12_**

 _Sound_

"A what?" Tualang asked. He knew exactly what his father was talking about, but he didn't want to believe it. It wasn't possible.

Was it?

"An animus." Sound said in a soft voice, still holding his son in a gentle hug. "Surely you know what that is. I know a lot of RainWings can't read but… I was hoping you picked something up along the way."

Tualang looked down at his talons. He could recall always feeling a small tingling sensation in them but he never thought much of it, until today. "Yes, I know what animus dragons are." He said slowly. "I just… How? The RainWings have never had an animus in their tribe. If they did, someone would've remembered."

Sound gently massaged Tualang's talons. "Isn't it obvious?" He asked, gesturing to his own steel-blue scales. "Animus power is genetic in the SeaWing tribe. At least, in the royal bloodline. It's a little too complicated to explain right now, but I'm very distantly related to the royal family. That's why you have this power. Despite not being an animus myself, I still carried the gene from that side of the bloodline."

"You're making my head hurt." Tualang grumbled, pressing a palm against one of his temples. "First I find out I'm in the same mountain as my missing father, then I'm told I'm an animus, and now- apparently- I'm part of the royal SeaWing lineage?"

"Distantly. I'll explain later." Sound reminded him, tightening his grip on Tualang's talons ever so slightly. "Let's change the topic, then. What did…" He paused, studying his scales. "What did they name you?"

"Tualang." The RainWing said, his dark green eyes meeting his father's almost identical ones.

"Tualang!" Sound echoed. "That's actually… not bad." He hummed, continuing to study the RainWing's form. "I had a few names in mind for you. Pine, Moss, Monsoon, Canopy, Almond, Fig, Tropic, Olive… just a few examples. But Tualang is a nice name."

"You were going to name me Fig?" Tualang asked with a laugh.

Sound chuckled and shook his head. "It was only one of the many names your mother and I came up with. Speaking of… You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?" He asked, something new appearing in his eyes.

Sadness? Regret?

"I never knew my real parents, yourself included." Tualang answered with a frown, curling his tail around his left ankle. "I was adopted by two RainWings who wanted to raise a dragonet on their own rather than let it grow up like a normal RainWing."

Sound looked at the ground. "Her name was Grove. Beautiful, kind, graceful, and innocent all in one package."

The mention of her name caused Tualang to look up in surprise. "No kidding!" He said incredulously, unable to stop his scales from shifting. "Grove?! She's my mother?"

Grove was one of the instructors who taught young dragonets tree gliding. She would constantly praise them when they got the hang of it and comfort them when they failed. In fact, Tualang once broke his wing while learning and she was the one who calmed him down and took him to the healers hut.

Sound nodded slowly. "Yes. She knew she had an egg- of course- but I didn't run off to find her when you were hatching. And by the time you sprang from the egg, I found out you were an animus. If word reached the Kingdom of the Sea that there was an animus SeaWing-RainWing hybrid hiding in the forest, Coral's army would've stormed the forest to find you. Lots of RainWings would die in an invasion like that, and it would be my fault. Those deaths would be on me. I don't need that on my conscience."

Tualang frowned and gripped the side of his head once more. "As far as excuses go, that wasn't… terrible." He grumbled, repeating Sound's words in his head. It was starting to make sense. Animus dragons were something the SeaWing queen valued greatly and it was likely that if word got out that he existed, the SeaWings would've taken him to the palace, where he would never see the light of day until it was time for him to use his power.

"Well, I'm glad it works." Sound chuckled before his expression turned serious and he placed a claw on Tualang's shoulder. "Okay. Enough chit-chat. Tualang, I need you to listen to me. Carefully." He started and Vegas handed him a sheet of paper with some writing on it. "This is a spell I need you to cast on yourself. You don't have to do much, just touch your chest and read out loud what's on the paper, word for word."

Tualang read the writing a few times before glancing at Sound with a confused expression. "What is this for?" He asked. "I mean, I can see it's not going to hurt me or anything, but why do I need this?"

Sound shook his head. "That I can't tell you until you cast it." He said and Vegas shrugged when the RainWing's gaze shifted to him.

"Sorry, RainWing. My lips are sealed as well."

Tualang sighed and read over the paper again, placing a talon on his chest. "Okay… here goes nothing." He said nervously, reading the enchantment out loud. "Protect this dragon's mind from the powers of the NightWing named Ghost."

Nothing happened for a few seconds. He blinked in confusion before he felt a strange chill go down his spine, causing him to shiver. "That was weird…" He noted. "But I don't feel any different."

Realization dawned on the enchantment he'd just cast and he looked at Sound. "Wait, why am I shielding myself from Ghost?" He asked. "I thought NightWings didn't have powers anymore? And he's the guy who runs this place, right? He said he wouldn't hurt me."

Sound frowned at him. "You can't tell me you seriously believe that. At least you're safe now." He said with a relieved sigh. "There is a lot you need to know about Ghost, the Faction, Vegas, and myself. This way, Ghost can't find out that we told you anything."

"You seem really suspicious of the guy." Tualang said skeptically, sitting down.

"Of course I'm suspicious of the guy! Months ago, he threw me in what is essentially a sugar coated dungeon and I haven't seen the world outside of this mountain since!" Sound yelled. "And now my son is kidnapped by his favorite ex-hitman! I never told anyone I had a son, but he found out anyway. He read me like a damn scroll."

"Because he has powers." Tualang sighed and closed his eyes.

After a long silence, Sound swallowed the lump in his throat and stared back at Tualang. "There's a lot more to the story than just that." He said quietly. "But I can't tell you everything right now. All I can say is Ghost is planning something terrible. Just… study him closely, alright? Whatever he says, listen intently. You'll see for yourself in time."

Vegas' head shot up. "Speaking of Ghost," He mused, standing up and glancing at the boulder that blocked the entrance. "Right about now is when the sun starts to set. We better head back to the room before he realizes we've been wandering around the dungeons without his oversight."

Tualang nodded and stood up seconds later. "Good call." He said and started towards the boulder but froze in his tracks as Sound gently placed a claw on his shoulder.

"Tualang…" He said quietly and Tualang turned to face him. "If nothing else, I'm glad I finally got to meet you, my son." Sound wrapped him in a quick hug, which Tualang leaned into ever so slightly.

"Likewise, dad. I'll come visit you whenever I get the chance, I promise." He responded, not wanting to leave his father's comforting embrace but was forced to break the hug as Vegas nudged him.

"Goodbye, Tualang. I love you."

In the blink of an eye, Tualang and Vegas were back in the room. With a quick glance out the window, he saw the sun was indeed setting and had just vanished behind the mountains. Another thing he noticed was a flash of light grey scales walking by the room after pausing by the door for a few moments.

'Ghost.' Tualang thought.

Vegas climbed into bed and took off his bandana and goggles, but left his iconic harness/vest on as always. Tualang got into his hammock and the two stared at each other for a few quiet, awkward moments.

"What?" Vegas asked.

"What?" Tualang responded.

"You're staring at me. Stop it."

"...Sorry." Tualang got comfortable in his hammock and gazed at the wall just above Vegas. Sound's words came back to him. 'Kidnapped by his favorite ex-hitman!'

He propped himself up on his arm and looked at Vegas again. "Sound called you an ex-hitman."

Vegas snorted, staring at the ground. "So he did." He said with a bored tone, dragging a talon against the stone floor.

Tualang blinked and decided to pry deeper. "How true is that?" He asked. "Were you really an assassin?"

The SandWing growled at him and turned over, facing the opposite direction as Tualang. "Why should I tell you anything? Go to bed." He grumbled, ruffling his wings and pulling a blanket over his dusty gold scales.

Tualang sighed and lie back down in his hammock. "Sorry." He said again, closing his eyes. "Just trying to start a conversation."

He felt himself start to fall asleep. But every time he was about to drift off, he was whisked back by his active brain. At first he wondered what Nova, Sol, and Orion were up to. Did they know he was gone? Did they even care? Maybe they were glad he left. Now Nova and Orion could go back to the forest and Sol could do… whatever. At least she no longer had to follow a nervous RainWing across the continent.

Just as he started to fall asleep again, his mind turned to thoughts about his father. It did feel good to meet Sound but he couldn't help but feel underwhelmed. 'I hunt the guy down in order to get answers but for every answer I get, ten more questions form in my head.' He thought angrily. Why did Sound want him to keep an eye on Ghost? What did it matter to Tualang what some secret society- that seemed harmless, by the way- was up to? None of this concerned him. He just wanted to find Sound.

Tualang let out another quiet sigh and finally felt himself fall asleep.

It was not to last.

"Yes, I was an assassin." Vegas broke the silence from his bed, not moving from under his covers. "Kidnapped as a days-old dragonet and raised by a bunch of criminals to be the perfect killer. When I was small, they would have me sneak into tight places and steal treasure and weapons from other dragons. As the years passed, training became more brutal. They would have me fight until I was on the brink of death, a bloody, bruised mess. They'd let me heal and then we were back to fighting."

I was trained to adapt to any situation. Any biome. Sand, ice, mud, darkness, you name a condition and I can take down any target without a problem. I didn't know any better. Instead of learning the alphabet, I was learning how to use different weapons, as well as my own talons. The first five years of my life were spent being crafted into some sort of super soldier. As a result, I have an incredible pain tolerance and gained a reputation as one of the best small-time mercenaries in the Kingdom of Sand. I worked alone once the others let me go, but if they ever needed me, they had a way to make me do whatever they wanted."

Tualang sat up curiously, having listened intently to Vegas' entire story. 'He knows almost nothing but violence. He was raised to be a killing machine.' He blinked and stared at Vegas' bed. "What might that be?"

Vegas turned back on his other side, facing Tualang. "A scroll." He said flatly. "I don't know what's so special about it- if it's animus touched or what- but when I was a dragonet, something to do with that scroll was burned into my brain. Whenever someone reads the phrases on it, I fall completely under their control. An obedient super soldier."

"That's why you're here now," Tualang realized, remembering when Vegas attacked him on the beach in Inlet, when he seemed completely different from the dragon he encountered in the alley. "You were forced to kidnap me and bring us both here, to the mountain. You tried to escape and lay low in Inlet but they found you anyway."

Vegas nodded slowly, a bit of a surprised look on his face. "Yes. I sold the knife to those SkyWings in the alley because I thought that would get the Faction off my back, to make them think that I was willing to work with them from the shadows, providing them with weapons and such. Alas, one thing led to another and I wound up here again. Escaping this mountain is hard enough. I've done it twice before and both times they lured me back with the power of the scroll."

"Why not steal the scroll for yourself and burn it?" Tualang asked.

It seemed like an easy enough solution. If it was a scroll, it should burn just as well as any other, even if this one had magic lettering or something.

According to the growl coming from Vegas' bed, this was apparently not the case.

"You think I haven't tried that?" He asked, clearly irritated. "Something about the damn thing makes it fireproof. It won't burn. I've tried setting it on fire myself multiple times in the past and it came out without a hint of damage."

So much for that idea.

Vegas sighed and steered away from the topic of the scroll. "When I was operating under my own will, I only took smaller contracts. This was during the war, mind you. Food was hard to come by, water even more so. I had to do something to make ends meet." He propped himself up on an arm. "Most of the time I'd only take contracts that involved killing bad dragons. I don't want to kill anyone just fighting to survive, like myself. In addition, jobs dealing with the war itself were a no-go. Even though I have the skills to kill a queen, I was not going to take a job to assassinate any of them. I don't want to be on an entire kingdom's radar. That's trouble I don't need."

The SandWing rubbed his talons together nervously. "But when someone else had control of me- thanks to the scroll- sometimes I didn't have a choice. I had to do whatever they told me. For instance, if they needed someone important killed, said dragon would have an arrow through the heart an hour later."

"So the scroll is in the Faction's possession now, I assume." Tualang said, to which Vegas nodded.

"Yep. The dragons who held it before the Faction sold it without much of a second thought. They might as well have just sold me. Now the Faction can control me whenever they need someone to do an important job."

Tualang decided to lighten the mood a little. "This sounds like a setup to a really bad joke." He began, a bit of a smile on his face. "An animus RainWing and a SandWing assassin share a room in a mountain held by a NightWing."

Vegas snorted again, but Tualang could tell it was more of an amused snort than an annoyed one this time. "Yeah… The type of joke you'd tell while getting blackout drunk." He said and let out a yawn. "Speaking of blackouts, I'm going to bed now. You'd be wise to do the same."

The RainWing nodded and lie back down in his hammock, closing his eyes. "Right. Good night, Vegas."

"Mm." The SandWing grumbled as Tualang's vision faded to black.


	14. Chapter 13: Effect and Cause, Part One

**_Chapter 13_**

 _Effect and Cause, Part One_

The sunlight beaming through the windows brought Tualang back to consciousness. He blinked a few times, looking out the window by his hammock. It was nearly noon, judging by the sun's position in the sky.

He blinked again and sat up. The first thing he noticed was his headache was gone. The second was that Vegas was still fast asleep.

Tualang rubbed his eyes and climbed out of the hammock. As his feet hit the ground, he winced and heard his stomach growl. It was then that he realized that he hadn't had anything to eat since his last day in Inlet.

'Alright then, Ghost. Tell me you've stocked this room with fruit.' He thought and started looking around his side of the room, rummaging through the drawers and chests.

Nothing.

Suddenly, a voice matching that of Tualang's favorite large, grey NightWing broke through the silent room. "If you're looking for food, I'm afraid you won't find anything in here. We don't keep food in the rooms."

He turned and saw Ghost standing just outside the room with a frown. 'Does he know about my protection spell?' Tualang thought nervously, studying the NightWing's face. He blinked and cleared his throat after a few moments of staring. "Y-yeah, I was just checking if there was any fruit lying around. It only just occurred to me how hungry I am." He said, walking towards the doorway.

Ghost snorted and stepped out of the way. "Follow me." He said. Tualang didn't have much of a choice. He didn't want to look suspicious so he followed Ghost down the hallway without much hesitation. "There's a prey center not too far from here. Luckily, some dragons in the Faction like fruit enough to where we already stock some. I won't force you to eat meat."

That was a relief. Tualang had never tried eating anything other than fruit, but he wasn't particularly interested in giving it a shot either. Fruit was just fine. The only way he could ever see himself eating fish or meat was if he absolutely had to in order to survive. Then again, he lived in the forest. Survival was never a huge issue for him.

Until now, maybe.

"Prey center." Ghost mused as they continued down the hall. "Surely there has to be a better name I can give it. Food court? Cafeteria? Canteen? Cafe? Lunchroom? What do you think?"

Tualang glanced at him before turning his gaze back down the hall. "Um… I don't know." He said, trying his best to both avoid talking to Ghost while not acting suspicious.

Ghost wrinkled his snout. "I like that one. The 'I don't know' room." He said with a snort. "You surely aren't the talkative type are you, RainWing? Most of you are chatterboxes."

"No, I'm not. Never have been." Tualang said with a sigh. "Plus, I kinda just woke up. I need to get something in my stomach before I'm ready to have any type of meaningful conversation."

The NightWing nodded slowly as they stepped through the doorway to the prey center. "Of course. You go do that, then." He said and started back towards the hall, pausing. "Oh, but do make it short. I would like to talk to you."

"Will do." Tualang said and Ghost left the prey center. The room was nothing special. There were bins full of different types of food, some raw and some cooked. He noticed a few SkyWings working in one of the corners, absentmindedly cooking some fish.

He shook his head and found a cart full of fruit. With a relaxed smile, he grabbed a few oranges and a clawful of strawberries, sitting at a table and quickly eating his breakfast. Or was it lunch? He didn't care, so long as he was eating.

Sound's words echoed in his head as he peeled and bit into an orange. 'Just… study him closely, alright? Whatever he says, listen intently. You'll see for yourself in time.' What was he supposed to listen for? If Ghost was a mind reader, he clearly didn't seem suspicious of Tualang's protection spell or he would've offhandedly mentioned something about it during the walk to the prey center.

Or maybe not. Ghost seemed like a dragon with a lot going on behind closed doors. Regardless, Tualang decided to take Sound's words to heart. 'I can just hang around for a few days and see what the big deal is. Why he needs me, why he needs dragons with powers.' His thoughts were taken back to the IceWing in the cell near Sound's… room? Cell?

In any case, Tualang found himself thinking about the albino IceWing in the dungeons. If Ghost only wanted to capture these special dragons and keep them out of the way, why wasn't Tualang in a cell himself? If Ghost wanted to eliminate competition for some reason, it would be logical to imprison any dangerous dragons. All the firescales, icescales, and animus dragons would be behind bars in this mountain if that were the case.

But, again, why? What was his goal? If Ghost and the Faction were working towards a better future, did that mean dragons with special abilities had to be taken out of the equation? None of this was making any sense to him.

'Probably why dad wants me to study Ghost myself.' He thought, rolling his eyes as he bit into a strawberry, pausing as the flavor filled his mouth. 'Dad.' Tualang realized. It felt weird. After years of not knowing who he was, Tualang now had his real father back in his life. Stick and Ivy were both good father figures, but finding Sound was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time.

'My dad is here, and he loves me. He wants to be with me. He never wanted to leave.' Tualang thought as he finished his fruit. 'Don't worry, Father. I want you back in my life, too. We just have to take care of this big-possibly-evil-dragon-Faction-Ghost-thing.'

Tualang stood up and threw the orange peels in a bin as he left the prey center. Ghost wanted to talk to him after he ate.

'Time to find out what he wants from me.' He thought, leaving the room and making his way to the council room. Truth be told, he had no idea where to find Ghost. He wasn't exactly given directions before he went to the prey center, so he just decided to try the most likely spots. The council room made the most sense in his mind. A big, important dragon like Ghost would probably be holding meetings every hour or so.

Admittedly, that was a bit of an exaggeration.

Tualang frowned as he passed a couple of rooms, catching quick glances of the dragons inside. Similar to the one he shared with Vegas, each room housed two dragons and was split evenly down the middle. The halves were adorned with decorations, furniture and comforts native to the dragon's tribe. For instance, mud pits for the MudWings, small pools for the SeaWings, and- of course- hammocks for the RainWings.

Or RainWing, anyway. As far as he could tell, Tualang was the only member of his tribe inside this mountain. Regardless, the hammock in his room was nearly identical to those in the rainforest.

'Buttering me up so I won't want to leave.' He thought with a snort. "Not like I'd have a reason to anyway. I don't have friends in the rainforest waiting for me."

He paused and thought of the trio of dragons he traveled to Inlet with. Were they friends? Or were they just a random group of dragons that decided to go with him for the hell of it? From what he could remember, Sol and Nova wanted to get out of the forest for a while and Orion was only there to keep an eye on his sister.

But if exploring was all they wanted to do, they had the freedom to leave the forest at any time. Nova could've found another group to travel with and Sol was both old enough and strong enough to take care of herself.

He thought back to Sol. If he was ever asked to describe what made a perfect SkyWing, she would be the prime example. She was strong, smart, and beautiful all at the same time. Typical SkyWings- judging from gossip alone, Tualang had never met one before Sol- were arrogant, grumpy, and loved to fight.

Sol was almost the opposite. She seemed optimistic and kind hearted and was even working her tail off to learn all sorts of healing methods in order to become a great doctor. Definitely not the selfish type, from what Tualang could tell.

But what about Nova, and to that extent, Orion? Both of them grew up on the NightWing volcano and moved to the rainforest with the rest of their tribe after the eruption. Most NightWings were not terribly fond of their new neighbors at first, but relations improved in the past two years.

Nova seemed to enjoy living with the RainWings and showed not one bit of disdain towards Tualang the entire trip. On the flip side, Orion had voiced his displeasure about the trip on multiple occasions. In addition, he wasn't very fond of Tualang in the first place. Why that was, Tualang didn't understand. Maybe it was just a NightWing thing to dislike the RainWings.

'Would I act the same way, put in their situation? Removed from my home and now ruled by a queen from another tribe?' He found himself thinking before shaking his head. 'Probably. But Queen Glory has been nothing but fair and just to all of them.'

Besides, not all NightWings were like that. Nova, for example, seemed happy in the rainforest, as were tons of other NightWings.

'Look at me, worrying about politics.' Tualang thought with an annoyed eye roll. 'Like I'm a prince or somethi- oh.' He was unable to stop himself from chuckling as he remembered what Sound told him last night. 'Right. I'm a very, very distant SeaWing prince. The ten percent of me that happens to be SeaWing is royal. Look out, everyone. I might be King Tualang of the SeaWings some day.'

He found the council room and pushed his way inside, closing the large doors behind him. In the middle of the room, there were seven dragon-sized rugs arranged in a circle. There were no windows on the walls but a large chandelier descended from the ceiling, adorned with candles to illuminate the room.

Whatever darkness that still lingered was no problem for Tualang, of course.

Thank you, SeaWing eyes.

As he entered, he noticed Ghost sitting on one of the rugs, Vegas on another. "Ah, Tualang. There you are. I hope you had a good meal?" He asked, to which Tualang nodded.

"I did. Thanks for stocking fruit in there. Not exactly the biggest fan of meat." Tualang said, a small look of surprise crossing his face as he saw Vegas.

"Oh, don't thank me. Thank the few SeaWings and IceWings that wanted more options in the prey center." Ghost said and caught the look he gave Vegas.

As if on cue, the SandWing stood up and brushed himself off. "Hey, I'm here too." He greeted and Tualang nodded in greeting. He could tell right off the bat that Vegas wasn't under the scroll's control at the moment. Whatever he was doing, he was doing under his own power.

A long silence ensued and Tualang cleared his throat. "Anyways… you said you wanted to talk to me. Which, by the way, is good, because I would really like some answers right about now."

Ghost hummed and traced a talon across a blank spot in the wall. Seconds later, a small chunk of stone pulled away and revealed a hidden stash of items. Tualang spotted a few different bracelets, scrolls, and knives before Ghost took out a gold bracelet with green stones embedded into the sides, closing the stash as the stone moved back into place. "And answers you shall receive. I reckon Sound has already told you part of the story, however."

A bolt of fear went through Tualang and he was sure he saw Vegas give him a look of worry as well. Surely the SandWing wouldn't snitch. After all, visiting Sound was his idea in the first place.

Or was Tualang reading his expression wrong? Vegas stared at him for a few more seconds before turning away. Something was happening.

"Wait, what does this have to do with the Faction?" Tualang asked nervously as Ghost snapped the bracelet onto his large forearm. The only response was a grin from the light grey NightWing.

"You'll see." Ghost said calmly. "Like I told you before, all in due time."

Before Tualang could say anything else, Ghost clenched his fist and pointed the bracelet at the RainWing, enveloping him in a green wave of energy.

Seconds later, the council room melted away and Tualang blacked out.


	15. Chapter 14: Effect and Cause, Part Two

**Chapter 14**

 _Effect and Cause - Part Two_

Death.

Everywhere Tualang looked, there was death.

Dragons scattered across the muddy field, crying out in pain. Most of them were already dead. The ones that weren't would be before long. No help would come for these soldiers trapped between two forces.

In the distance, he could hear the screams of a terrified dragon moments before she was silenced with a sickening "snap".

There was a thin SeaWing dragonet on the ground next to him, bleeding out from an array of gashes on his light green hide. He couldn't have been older than four.

Up in the sky, Tualang saw a squadron of older SeaWings fighting another group of their own tribe.

'What…' He thought, trying to make sense of what was happening in front of him. 'Traitors? Escaped prisoners? Why are these dragons fighting themselves…?'

His view was whisked over to another side of the battlefield. A SeaWing was talking to a couple of MudWing mercenaries who were setting up dragonflame cactus bombs.

Seconds later, his view shifted again. This time, he actually felt like he was on the battlefield. Multiple SeaWings pushed past him and charged towards the enemy forces. As they did, Tualang could clearly see the desperation in their faces.

These dragons didn't want to be here. They wanted nothing more than to just go home with their families, to return to their normal lives.

"HEY! What are you doing?" One of the generals yelled at Tualang. He took a quick glance down and noticed immediately that his talons weren't his own. No, he was a dark green SeaWing.

"M-me?" He asked and the general rolled his eyes.

"No, the mud between your talons- YES YOU, YOU IDIOT!" The general roared and Tualang (or the dragon he currently was) winced. "GET OFF YOUR TAIL AND GET BACK OUT THERE!"

Tualang didn't know why, but he set his jaw and nodded his head before grabbing a spear and running after the other SeaWings on his side. The spear felt wrong in his talons. His talons felt clunky and he felt like he might mess up at any moment.

Yet moments later, as if by instinct, he tackled an enemy soldier about the same size as him and held the tip of his spear against the other dragon's chest. "Stay down, snail." He growled at the dragon, who just smirked up at him.

"You won't kill me." He said simply and Tualang narrowed his eyes at him. "You could never harm another dragon."

It was silent for a few moments as the two SeaWings stared at each other, Tualang gripping the spear tightly. 'Just kill him!' His brain yelled. 'Just push the spear forward!'

He couldn't do it. He felt his grip loosen on the spear…

Right at that moment, the other SeaWing ripped the spear from his talons and thrust the blade into Tualang's chest without a second thought.

It was like nothing he ever felt before. Tualang roared in pain and felt tears welling up in his eyes as the blade pierced his heart.

As his vision faded to black, his last sight was the other dragon giving him a dark smirk.

Tualang gasped as he was suddenly returned to his own time. Just seconds prior, he was trapped in the middle of some sort of war. Now he was back in Ghost's council room.

"What did you just do to me?!" The RainWing cried, a few tears forming in his eyes. The faces of the panicked SeaWings were burned in his memory. "Why would you show me something like that?!"

Ghost looked at him with a sympathetic frown and tapped the bracelet. "The Great SeaWing Schism." He started, flicking his tail. "8,051 years after the Scorching."

That made Tualang pause. "Eight thousand and fifty one years…?" He asked quietly. That was… "Three thousand and thirty eight years in the future. Wait…"

Ghost sighed and tapped the bracelet again. "What I just showed you is not real." He said simply, ruffling his wings in annoyance. "At least, not yet it's not. The war you just saw has a very high chance of happening in this timeline, but it obviously hasn't happened yet."

"Why would you show me that?" Tualang asked weakly, trying to get the images of the dying SeaWings out of his head. "Ghost, why?"

"Because this is what I'm trying to prevent!" Ghost roared impatiently. "Right now, you see a world at peace. But the thing is, dragons do not change, regardless of what some peace treaty might lead you to believe. Even now, there are dragons out there that yearn for war, that thirst for blood and violence. Eventually, this world will spiral right back into petty conflict."

The grey NightWing frowned at the two dragons in the room. "I'm trying to create a world without violence. A world where dragons have no need for war. A world where no innocent dragon has to suffer ever again. NightWings, RainWings, SandWings, SeaWings, MudWings, SkyWings, IceWings all living in harmony, in a world where war is a thing of the past, where nobody will want to fight ever again."

"And how…" Tualang coughed. "How do you plan on achieving that?"

Ghost smiled and the green stones lit up on the bracelet again. "I'm glad you asked."

Before Tualang could protest, he was whisked back into the green energy.

"Event Horizon, the point of no return."

A black NightWing dotted with shades of blue sat on the floor of a small cave, talking to himself. At that moment, an emerald green SeaWing emerged from the doorway.

"Are you talking to yourself again, Pathfinder?" He chuckled, walking over and sitting down across from the NightWing.

Pathfinder looked up at the SeaWing with a small frown before turning his attention back to a scroll in front of him. Evidently he'd been writing something.

"I've figured it out, Petrel." Pathfinder said with a hopeful voice. "The project I've been working on for the past few years. I know exactly what to do." There was a small bracelet on his left forearm with green stones embedded in the metal. "I know you've warned me before not to use my magic but… I just had to this time! One enchantment!"

Petrel frowned at Pathfinder but couldn't help but glance at his bracelet.

"What does it do?" He asked cautiously.

Pathfinder took it off and stared at it. "I enchanted this to let me travel through time whenever I want. I figured that there must've been a version of me in at least one other timeline that figured out how to reach Event Horizon so I enchanted this to help me find that Pathfinder and copy his work."

The SeaWing looked at him with a bewildered expression. "Are you sure that's safe?!" He cried, eyes darting between the bracelet and the other dragon's face. "I mean, wouldn't that cause a paradox or whatever, having two Pathfinders in one timeline?"

Pathfinder just rolled his eyes.

"Petrel, you know I'm smarter than that." He said and cleared his throat. "I made sure that nobody would be able to recognize me. That's part of the enchantment."

Petrel seemed to relax a bit at that.

"...Okay."

Pathfinder nodded and grabbed the scroll. "Enough about the bracelet. I haven't told you about Event Horizon yet." He pushed the inkpot and pen away as a precaution.

The scroll was labeled "EVENT HORIZON" across the top in dark lettering. The rest was hard to read, a bunch of jumbled words flashing through Tualang's mind for split seconds at a time.

Time.

NightWing.

SeaWing.

Icescales.

Animus.

Rainforest.

Mountains.

Forge.

Animus.

Reset.

Peace.

SandWing.

Forge.

Animus.

RainWing.

Weapon.

Animus.

At that moment, he was whisked away from the cave again. However, he wasn't given another view of the current time period. Instead, something new popped into his mind.

He was standing somewhere in the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. The sun was going dark and a ray of energy was seemingly projected from it into a strange looking spire.

Seconds later, a blast of blue energy shot out of the top of the spire and exploded high in the sky, sending waves of similar blue energy across Pyrrhia.

Dragons started dying all across the continent, going limp before their bodies completely disintegrated. As the wave of blue energy hit Tualang's scales, everything went dark again.

The feeling of being moved slowly brought the RainWing back to consciousness. He tried to open his eyes, but his head throbbed in pain the moment he did so. With a growl of frustration, he went limp. There wasn't anything he could do at the moment but lie where he was.

"Hey, you're okay. Just stay still." A voice rang from beside him.

"Vegas?" Tualang asked weakly, feeling the warmth of his scales and recognizing his deep voice.

He couldn't see him, but Tualang was pretty sure he nodded. "Yep, it's me. Everyone's least favorite SandWing." He said as he placed a cold rag over Tualang's face.

Tualang came to realize that the movement was just the idle swinging of his hammock. Sometime between Ghost's second demonstration and now, he was moved back to his and Vegas' room.

"What happened?" The hybrid coughed and he heard a sigh from the SandWing. Was it one of annoyance? Anger? Irritation? Impatience?

It quickly dawned on Tualang that the answer was none of these. The sigh was more of regret, sadness, and sympathy.

"You passed out after Ghost used the bracelet on you for a second time." He explained and the sound of the ex-assassin sitting down next to the hammock could be heard. "I tried to warn him against giving you any visions in the first place. I did everything I could to keep Ghost from dragging you into this, and I failed. I'm so sorry, Tualang."

That was surprising. Vegas sounded like he actually cared about the RainWing. Hell, he even said his name while speaking to him. Maybe he really wasn't as cold as he was led to believe.

"It's not your fault." He said, forcing his eyes open to look at the SandWing. Eye contact was prevented solely because of the dark goggles covering Vegas' eyes. "It was going to happen eventually. You and I both know that if Ghost wants something he'll get it, with or without help."

Vegas shook his head and Tualang thought he could see a few dots appear on the lenses of the goggles. "No, you don't understand! You weren't supposed to be dragged into this in the first place!" He cried and paused to clear his throat. "I promised Sound I'd do everything I could to keep Ghost from harming you. I failed."

Tualang frowned and climbed out of the hammock, ignoring the shouts of protest from his pulsing temples. Without a second thought, he leaned in and wrapped the SandWing in a gentle embrace.

"It's not your fault. None of this is your fault." He told him quietly.

Vegas flinched as the RainWing's scales made contact with his own but he didn't pull away. He slowly removed his goggles and stared at Tualang with surprised red eyes. He didn't know what to do, so he remained still as a statue until the other dragon broke the hug.

"What's wrong?" Tualang asked, climbing back into his hammock. "That's called a hug. Haven't you ever been hugged before?"

Vegas blinked and looked away, keeping his expression hidden. He was quiet for a few moments before speaking up again. "...Once." He answered quietly, dragging a talon across the ground. "Before any of the assassin stuff, when I was just a dragonet and I still had a mother."

It felt weird, for sure, but deep down Vegas was relieved that Tualang didn't harbor a grudge towards him over what happened in the council room.

Tualang lie down on his side and lightly swayed in the hammock. He didn't want to pry into Vegas' past but judging by the look on the SandWing's face, he was going to hear a story whether he wanted to or not.

"Just days after I hatched, a bunch of bandits raided our home in hopes of finding treasure, weapons, slaves, and such." Vegas looked down at the ground, his dark red eyes full of sadness, an emotion Tualang was previously unaware the SandWing was capable of experiencing.

"My mother and father gave them whatever they wanted in hopes that they would leave peacefully, but that wasn't the case. I was left in my room, crying for my mother as the house was set ablaze and the smell of smoke started to fill my nostrils. I was saved by the criminals only because of what I told you before: They wanted to raise the perfect killer. An emotionless, vicious, killing machine."

"Not so emotionless after all, apparently." Tualang said softly, reaching down and grabbing one of the dusty gold talons.

Vegas chuckled ruefully and squeezed the smaller talon before letting go. "Yeah. Crazy enough, I remember everything from that day. That was my last day of complete freedom."

'The scroll.' Tualang thought, remembering what Vegas said the other day. There was a scroll that could control him. It had to be somewhere in the mountain, right? How else would Ghost have been able to use Vegas to capture Tualang?

The scroll. It had to be animus touched.

'Forge. Forge. Forge.' The words from earlier repeated like a broken record in Tualang's head. 'What is Forge? Something to do with animus magic?'

He needed answers, desperately.

But that could wait for tomorrow.

"Get some sleep, Vegas." Tualang told him gently and the SandWing nodded, standing up and heading over to his bed on the opposite side of the room. He placed his goggles and bandana on a hook on the wall before climbing under the covers.

As Tualang drifted off once again, he could hear Vegas' voice from across the room.

"Good night, Tualang."


	16. Chapter 15: Eyes on the Future

**_Chapter 15_**

 _Eyes on the Future_

It was still dark outside when Tualang's eyes shot open. He was still in his hammock, which swayed lightly as a result of his movements.

'How long was I out this time?' He wondered, sitting up and glancing around the room.

Vegas was still fast asleep, soft snores coming from the SandWing's bed. With a quick look out the window, it was rather obvious Tualang had woken up in the middle of the night. That was new… back in the rainforest, he usually slept until noon.

'Maybe I'm just stressed out.' He guessed. After a few futile attempts to fall back asleep, he let out a sigh and climbed out of the hammock. He checked Vegas' bed once more before stepping onto the balcony.

Tualang leaned on the railing and stared up at the stars, his blank expression slowly turning to a frown.

"What am I doing?" He mumbled to the sky, a cold breeze blowing across the mountains. "Why am I still here?"

"Nova… Sol… Orion…" He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Are you three still hanging around Inlet? Are you wondering where I went? Do you even care?"

Tualang shook his head and let out another sigh. "I don't know why you would. We barely know each other, after all. Hell, Orion's probably happy that he and Nova can go home now. He wanted nothing to do with a RainWing like me."

But why wasn't that an option for him? Ghost continued to insist that joining the Faction was voluntary, yet Tualang had the feeling the grey NightWing wasn't just going to let him leave the mountain, especially considering he would want to take his father with him.

'What do you want from me, Ghost? Do you plan to force me to use every last bit of my power to help you?'

He paused and rubbed his temples as he recalled the visions from earlier.

"Event Horizon…" He muttered, flashing back to the sight of the strange spire emitting the blue energy moments before he- and thousands of others- were killed instantly.

Tualang sighed again and stared at the night sky.

"Are you up there, Grapevine? Can you see me from heaven?" He asked softly, his scales turning blue. It still hadn't settled in that she was truly gone. "What do I do, Grape? What am I supposed to do? Even if I go home now…"

Tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "I can't live without you. Why did it have to be you? Why did you have to go so soon? If- If only I knew what I was, I-" His sobs cut him off and he leaned against the railing, clutching his head in his talons.

"I cou- could've saved you! You'd still be alive right now! We'd still be in the forest, happy, healthy, and carefree as ever!" His talons trembled with both anger and sadness, tears streaming down his face. "Why…"

His voice grew weak, shaking a little with each word. "I miss you, Grapevine. To know the power to save your life was in my talons all this time… How am I supposed to live with that? How am I supposed to live knowing I did nothing at all?"

Tualang slumped against the floor, wings drooping beside him as he sobbed into the stone. "M- maybe now I- I could bring you back!" He trembled hopefully, looking at his shaking talons. "I could… I could…"

Suddenly, a warm talon grabbed his wrist. Tualang yelped at the tight grip, scampering up from the ground as he tried to escape the newcomer's grasp.

In a panic with his judgement clouded, he flailed around, trying to pry himself free. "Let go! Let go of me! I can- I can save her! I can save them all!" He hollered, tears streaming down his scales, which pulsed with random colors in desperation.

Suddenly, the other dragon tightened his grip, holding Tualang in place. Dark red eyes stared back at him.

"Snap out of it!" The SandWing yelled as he clenched his fist, sending it towards Tualang's cheek without hesitation.

Everything went blurry for a moment. A sharp, burning pain flashed through the left side of Tualang's face as the fist crashed against his jaw, the force of the punch sending him sprawling across the ground as he yelped in a mix of surprise and pain.

Everything was quiet for a short while. Tualang breathed heavily and clutched his jaw, staring up at Vegas, who was panting with adrenaline.

"Is your brain working now?" Vegas asked with a low growl, flexing his talons as if preparing to throw another punch. Tualand winced, both halfheartedly shielding himself while also accepting the fact that he probably deserved another one.

"V- Vegas..?" He said quietly, squeezing the green out of his scales as he forced them back to his normal pattern. "When did you get here…?" He rubbed his jaw with another wince. That was going to hurt for a while.

"You woke me up with your bawling." The SandWing grumbled, extending a talon to help the RainWing off the ground. Tualang blinked a few times in embarrassment, his scales following suit with a light shade of pink before he took the talon and stood up.

Something caught Tualang off guard. Vegas wasn't wearing his vest, nor his goggles or bandana. This was the most he had ever seen of the strange SandWing's exposed scales. In this state he looked a lot more… vulnerable? Was that the right word? Tualang decided to ignore it for the time being.

"You mean you heard all of that?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head. That wasn't the most comforting thought. Even if he was on good terms with Vegas, Tualang still didn't like the idea of him hearing his conversation with himself.

Vegas sighed and nodded. "Thanks to the lack of a door connecting this balcony, I could hear you just fine. I had to beat some sense into you before you could use your power."

Tualang opened and closed his mouth, a sad frown crossing his face. "But I… I can save her…" He whispered but cut himself off when he saw the glare Vegas was giving him.

"Do you need me to belt you another one?"

"No." Tualang said, shaking his head a little. "...But I probably deserve it."

"Yes, you really do." Vegas snorted and stepped towards the railing, crossing his forearms and leaning on it. Tualang followed suit, standing a short distance from the dusty gold dragon. He could feel the warmth of his scales from this distance and, surprisingly, that helped calm him down.

Tualang wiped some of the tears from his face, staring down the side of the mountain. "I could've done something." He said quietly, his wings drooping. It took everything he had to keep his scales from shifting again. "If only I found out sooner just what I am, I could've removed her illness entirely. I'd still be in the rainforest right now, oblivious to all of this Faction stuff."

"You'd just be delaying the inevitable," Vegas said flatly, rubbing his eyes in slight frustration. "Ghost would've found you regardless if you left the forest or not. You going to Inlet just accelerated his schedule a little bit."

"Have you any sense of compassion?" Tualang snapped, looking down at his own trembling talons. "You're saying I should just completely ignore the fact that, all this time, I had the power to save my girlfriend's life?"

"Yes." Was the response that came from the SandWing's mouth. Tualang felt his scales turning red and he was about to start yelling when Vegas continued talking.

"Those that are dead are dead. Bringing them back both does them a disservice and undermines the tears you've shed for them. You may want them back, but who's to say that they want to come back?"

Vegas paused to let out a sigh before continuing.

"You can't just think of what could've been. There's not a day that goes by that I wonder what my life would be like had I never been stolen from my family. Am I still a brainwashed assassin? Do I still end up at the Faction? Does Ghost find someone else to do his dirty work? I have those questions, yes, but I don't dwell on them. The past is not something any of us have the power to change. That's why everyone needs to learn to look at what lies ahead, because the future is something we can shape with our own talons."

Tualang blinked. His scales had settled back to a calmer pattern by now. "That sounds like something Ghost would say. The part about the future, I mean."

"That's what Sound and I believe the Faction should be all about. It should be a way to teach that message to dragons across the continent who continue to regret the past. If everyone chooses to focus on the future instead, we can all work together to create a world where everyone is happy."

The RainWing wiped the dried tears from his face and stared at Vegas. He never expected this dragon to be this talkative.

"I see…" The colorful dragon said quietly, staring back at the sky.

Everything was quiet for about a minute before Vegas spoke up.

"I'm sorry to hear about Grapevine, Tualang, I really am. I know you wish you could've done something, but the way I see it, you did enough for her just by being with her in her final moments. There is no need to regret that choice."

"Maybe, but I… I can't just forget her. You don't know how important she was to me. Maybe you're right in saying I shouldn't dwell on my actions in the past, but I can't just forget everything that happened either."

Vegas reluctantly wrapped a wing around Tualang's back momentarily, the warmth seeping into his scales as a result.

"I'm not saying you have to. I understand that she meant a lot to you. Besides, she's not truly gone, you know. She's still in here, right?" Vegas lightly tapped the RainWing's chest with one of his claws.

Tualang was silent as he moved a talon over the point Vegas touched, slowly nodding his head after he did so. "That's right… She's still in here." He murmured, repeating the SandWing's words. After another minute of silence, Tualang stoop up, Vegas retracting his wing as he did so.

"Thank you, Vegas, for punching some sense into me. I'll do my best to keep my eyes on the future." He said, eliciting a smirk from the dusty gold dragon. "That includes learning more about Event Horizon. I need answers."

"Hey, you know exactly who to ask." Vegas said, raising a ridge. "And no, I don't mean me. I'm not the expert. I'm talking about a certain steel-blue SeaWing."

Tualang sighed and nodded in understanding. "I see… but how do I get by the boulder? I don't know how to open that room and I'm not exactly jumping at the idea of using my magic to do it."

"You're right, and I can't come with you. Ghost will get suspicious if I leave for an extended period of time. You have to go alone." He tapped his chin with a frown. "Listen, I can't tell you how to open it now- there are ears everywhere and we may be in enough trouble just discussing meeting Sound again- but I can still help you. When you wake up, search my bed. You'll know what to look for."

Tualang was a little confused, but he nodded anyway.

"Got it."

"Good. Now get some sleep, Tualang."

"Will do. Good night, Vegas."

To nobody's surprise, everything was quiet again when Tualang woke up. He slowly opened his dark green eyes only to find Vegas was not in the room.

"Right. Looks like I have to do this part solo, then." He muttered, climbing out of the hammock and setting the now-dry washcloth off to the side. He was about to head out of the room when he remembered Vegas' words: "Search my bed." Curiously, Tualang stepped over to the empty bed and saw the strange dragon's tinted goggles hanging off the side.

Save for the previous night, Tualang couldn't recall ever seeing the SandWing without the goggles on his body, be it over his eyes, around his neck, or perched on his forehead. Were they important? Did they have some sort of sentimental value to him? Did he simply think they made him look like a badass?

'If I know Vegas- which, admittedly I don't very well- the answer could be any combination of those three.' He thought with a small sigh. Vegas and Sound were pretty much his only allies in the Faction and one of them was trapped behind a boulder while the other vanished every morning before Tualang had the chance to talk. At least this time they were able to exchange words in the middle of the night.

Lo and behold, Tualang needed Vegas to reach Sound or at least, he needed the phrase to move the boulder out of the way.

"Thanks for the help, Vegas." He muttered sarcastically, picking up the goggles and glancing at the bed again. 'Yep, no handsome red-eyed ex-assassins hanging around here. Guess he was serious about keeping the phrase a secret.'

'I can't be too mad at him, though.' He realized. 'He helped me come to my senses last night before he got all philosophical. I guess I should learn to trust him.'

He was about to set the goggles down and search under the bed when something caught his eye. Just behind the dark green bandana hanging on one corner of the bed, there was a small slip of paper. Curiously, Tualang reached over and grabbed the parchment, spreading it open and reading the small lettering.

"Good morning. Ghost watching. Go to Sound. Use passcode."

There was a phrase written on the other side of the paper which Tualang could only assume was the aforementioned passcode.

Tualang read it over a couple of times and folded the paper moments later, holding it between his claws.

"Alright, father. It's about time for you to tell me all about this."

He double checked his scales before stepping out of the room.


	17. Chapter 16: MID

**Chapter 16**

 _M.I.D._

The boulder stared back at Tualang as he stopped just a few feet before it. He pulled out the slip of paper Vegas left for him and repeated the phrase in his head a few times before letting out a deep breath and pressing his palm against the cool stone.

"Please, grant me passage."

The boulder shook and lifted upwards, revealing his father's room. As he stepped inside and the boulder fell back in place behind him, he couldn't help but be annoyed at how simple the phrase was. With how secretive Vegas was about it the previous night, he was under the impression that it was going to be something complicated.

Apparently he only had to ask the boulder to move.

The feeling of the grass on his talons was somewhat comforting. The soft dirt was a welcome change from the stone flooring he'd been walking on for the past two days.

"Who's there?" A voice called from across the large room, presumably near the water. "Ghost? Vegas? That cute SkyWing that brought me lunch the other day? Wait, no. The way you walk doesn't sound like any of those three." Sound emerged from the shore, freezing in place when he realized who was in the room with him. With wide eyes, he ran over and enveloped Tualang in a tight hug.

"Oh, Tua! It's you!" He cried happily. "I was worried you wouldn't visit me, but here you are! How are you, child? Still healthy? Are you eating well?"

Tualang lightly batted at his father's chest with the back of one of his talons.

"Can't… breathe…" He managed to say and the big SeaWing let him go immediately.

"Sorry, sorry! I'm so sorry. I just gets a little lonely in here sometimes, you know?" Sound paused and took a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh. "...Plus I'm still getting used to the fact that my son- my Tualang- is really here with me."

"Don't worry about it, dad. I know what you mean. You don't have to apologize for being happy." Tualang answered, leaning in to return the hug with a small one of his own.

It was… strange, to say the least. Just days ago Tualang wasn't sure if Sound wanted to see him or if he was even alive at all. Yet here he was, hugging the same dragon he once never thought he'd meet.

Tualang took a step back after letting go.

"So, what do you need? Are you here to spend time with your old man?" Sound asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Something like that. We didn't get to talk much yesterday so I figured now was a good time."

Sound tapped his chin and looked at his son again with a strange expression plastered across his steel blue face. "And you're not just doing this because you need me to tell you more about Ghost and the Faction and all that, right?"

"What? No!" Tualang exclaimed but knew Sound saw right through him. He was partially telling the truth. He did want to spend time with Sound but the important thing was to learn about Event Horizon.

Before he could explain himself, the large SeaWing dismissively waved a talon. "Ah, don't worry about it. I know I haven't exactly done you any favors since you got here. You deserve to know what's going on. Here, follow me." He turned and started towards the shore, Tualang following suit.

"How did you know I was lying?" The hybrid asked, eliciting a chuckle from the older dragon.

"You're just like your mother. She always had the same face when she tried to lie. Left eye ridge raised slightly higher than the right, a bit of a dismissive frown, and the way you tap a claw against the ground right as you start talking. That is almost exactly what Grove used to do."

That was a little unnerving. He had an "I'm lying" face? Not only that, but Sound knew what it looked like? Not ideal.

'Breathe, Tualang. It's not a big deal. You shouldn't have to lie to your father anyway, right? Everything is going to be fine.'

"...I see. Guess there's no point in me trying to keep anything from you, then. You're a living lie detector." Tualang said, sitting on the sand near the water. As he did so, his tail snaked around behind him, eventually sliding into the cool water.

"You think so? I've been told I'd make a good interrogator." Sound snickered as he sat down a few feet from his son. "That is, if I were to ever return to the Kingdom of the Sea. Things are a little complicated back home right now."

A strange look crossed the SeaWing's face for a few moments but he quickly wiped it away. "Enough about me. You came here because I owe you answers. Let's get to it, then. Ask away, Tualang."

Tualang blinked and nodded. "Right. I'm going to get straight to the point. I want you to be completely honest with me, alright? I can't lie to you, so I want that to be mutual. Are we agreed?"

Sound nodded slowly and sat down in a shallow area of the water. "Certainly. It's only fair, I suppose."

The hybrid cleared his throat. "Event Horizon," He started, noticing his father's immediate reaction the moment the words left his mouth. "Yesterday afternoon, Ghost used some… weird time-vision-hallucination bracelet on me. He showed me visions of a SeaWing civil war, a conflict he called the Great SeaWing Schism. The thing is, after I left the vision, Ghost told me that the war hadn't happened yet. Rather, it will happen thousands of years in the future."

He paused to regain his breath, trying to recall all he heard and saw the previous day.

"He then told me he planned to bring peace to the world forever. He was going to stop that war and all other like it before they could even happen. I remember thinking, 'How is that possible?' But then I had another vision, one that seemed much closer to the present. I saw something… Every dragon on the continent was dying, myself included. Just before that, I saw two dragons discussing something called Event Horizon."

He looked at the SeaWing with desperate eyes. "What is going on? What is all of this about? You must know something about Ghost's plans."

Sound stared at the water quietly, a blank expression on his face. After a few moments of silence, he let out a deep sigh and turned to face his son.

"Yes, I do know about Event Horizon." He finally answered, rubbing his temples. "Back when I was released from SeaWing prison, Ghost recruited me into the Faction. I was still too scared to go back to the rainforest so it wasn't too hard to convince me to join. He must've liked me a lot, because I quickly climbed the ranks and was eventually allowed to participate in the meetings in the council room."

Tualang thought back to the seven rugs. Of course, those must've been for Ghost and six of his most trusted dragons. Ghost and Sound were two of the seven, but it was only now dawning on Tualang that there were five other council members somewhere in- or near- the mountain. Was Vegas one of them, or was he merely a pawn?

Sound's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"When I was put into the council, Ghost showed me visions similar to the ones you just told me about. He said he had a plan to bring everlasting peace to Pyrrhia. He dubbed that plan Event Horizon, the point of no return."

"You didn't answer my question. How does Event Horizon work? How does he plan to 'save the world?'"

Sound sighed and rubbed his temples again.

"By ending it." The SeaWing said simply. "Hidden in the heart of Pyrrhia, there is a place by the name of Forge."

Tualang paused. 'The vision…' He thought. 'The vision told me about Forge. It was one of the words that continued to run through my mind, along with animus.' He looked up with a frown.

"What is Forge?"

"An experiment. Long ago, one animus realized that animus dragons were limited by the effect the magic had on their souls. As such, he built Forge, enchanting it to become a vessel for animus power. Some of the greatest weapons in the history of Pyrrhia were crafted there, from a staff that could part the seas to a ring that granted its wearer the ability to control entire tribes. The dragon who founded Forge figured that such enchantments would be too risky for a lone animus to cast, so the mountain negates said risks. In short, it's a big forge that can animus-touch items without costing any dragon their soul."

"That's… a lot to take in." Tualang grumbled, wings drooping as he scowled at the water. "Forge… Ghost wants to end the world using a magical forge. How would that even work? How do you enchant the world to just… die?"

"You don't," Sound answered, standing up and stepping into the shallow end of the water. "Forge was also built with the intention that it would one day be used in the event that the world had to start over, that it was too far gone. I'll give you three guesses who requested that from Forge's creator."

Tualang looked bewildered.

"Ghost? But how?"

"Use your brain, Tua. Think back to the vision. You think Ghost is restricted by the boundaries of time? The answer should be rather obvious."

Right, the bracelet. The very same bracelet that gave him the visions was also seen in the vision of Petrel and Pathfinder. Pathfinder explicitly stated that he enchanted it to allow passage through time.

"So Ghost managed to find Pathfinder's bracelet, go back in time, and talk to Forge's founder long before it was actually built? That's not unnerving whatsoever."

"Hey, you said it, not me." Sound said, a slightly concerned look on his face. "Look, I know this is all confusing to you, but I can't tell you any more. Ghost doesn't want us talking much to begin with."

Sound stared at his reflection in the water before turning around and walking over to his son.

"Listen, there's a lot of shady crap going on here. I need you to do something for me."

'More favors? Didn't I bust my tail just getting here?' Tualang thought irritably.

"I want you to leave. Get as far from Ghost as you possibly can. I don't know what he wants from you, but given your abilities, it can't be anything good. Leave this mountain as soon as you can, Tualang. Go back to your friends. Keep yourself safe."

Before the hybrid could say anything, his father enveloped him in another tight hug.

"If this truly is goodbye, my beautiful child, I'm glad I got to see you at least once. I'm sorry I was never there for you. I'm sorry I couldn't be the father I wanted to be. I'm sorry I left you out of your mother's reach. Do me a favor and say hi to her for me, alright?"

Tualang felt something wet hit the scales on his shoulders. He looked up and saw the drops emerging from the corners of his father's eyes.

He was crying.

Tualang let out a deep sigh and gently patted his father's back, leaning into the hug.

"Almost two weeks ago, the most important dragon in my life told me goodbye for the last time. She didn't want me to wait for her as that would only bring me more pain. She wanted me to be happy. As a result, I set out to find you. I wanted answers about my past, yes, but I mainly wanted to be with you, to get to know you."

"As of right now, you are the most important dragon in Pyrrhia to me. Even in the midst of what could be the end of the world, I'm happy just knowing you're alive and that you really do care about me. If I leave, I'm giving up that happiness. So please…"

He felt a few tears of his own escape his eyes as some of his scales turned blue.

"You're all I have left. Let me help you, Sound. Let's save the world or whatever, father and son."

They stood there for a short while, neither of them daring to say a word in that time. The silence finally broke with a deep, shaky sigh from Sound. The SeaWing lifted a talon and wiped the tears from his son's face, the corners of his mouth curling upwards ever so slightly.

"...You really are your mother's child. I can't stop you." He finally said, his voice quiet. He let out another sigh. "Alright then. I'm probably going to regret this, but if you truly want to stay with me, we will do this together. However, if I ever think your life is in danger, I will not hesitate to send you halfway across the continent. Do you understand, Tualang?"

Tualang nodded slowly and rested his head on Sound's shoulder.

"I understand." Was all he said.

Sound must've been satisfied with this answer because he smiled and reached a talon towards Tualang's face to wipe the rest of the tears away.

"Then we're agreed. Pleasure doing business with you, kid."

The two large dragons remained in the embrace for a few more moments before Tualang let go and took a few steps back.

"Thank you, Sou-" Tualang cut himself off. This SeaWing wasn't just Sound to him, he had to remember that. "Err... father."

"Don't thank me. I'm the one who should be thanking you." Sound chuckled and sat down in the shallow water. "I've wanted to leave the Faction for months now. Thanks to you, I just might be able to get out of this glorified dungeon."

Tualang nodded slowly, taking a glance back at the boulder that blocked the doorway. He wanted to ask why Sound couldn't just use the phrase himself. However, just as he opened his mouth, he snapped it shut. With a loud scraping noise, the boulder lifted up from the ground. Standing in the doorway was a familiar, dusty gold face.

"Vegas?" He asked, clearly surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Vegas knew better than to sneak down to Sound's quarters during the day, especially considering the fact that Ghost was watching him at all times. Maybe he urgently needed to tell Tualang something. Maybe he had important news for Sound.

Or maybe it was something else.

Without saying a word, Vegas started towards the hybrid. It was then that he realized that Vegas' eyes were covered by his dark goggles and his dark green bandana was covering his mouth. He was tense and what little expression Tualang could see was completely blank.

He'd seen that look before, back on the beach in Inlet. This wasn't Vegas at all.

As the SandWing got closer, Sound stepped in front of his son.

"Vegas," He said calmly, staring the burly sand dragon in the eyes. Well, goggles anyway. "If Ghost told you to hurt my son, I'm afraid you're going to be very disappointed."

Vegas stopped a few feet from Sound, staring back at him. After a few moments of unnerving silence, he smirked behind his bandana and threw a punch at Sound's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Moments later, his fist met his left temple. The SeaWing yelped in pain, despite having expected an attack. He stumbled off to the side, Vegas nonchalantly sticking his tail out to trip the dazed SeaWing.

The steel blue dragon fell on his side, blinking rapidly as his chest heaved, trying to regain his breath. Vegas made a noise akin to a chuckle and started towards Sound again before Tualang stepped in his way.

"Tualang!" Sound rasped from his spot on the shore, coughing a few times. He tried to quickly get to his feet but the hybrid looked back at him with a smile.

"It's okay, dad. Stay down. He's here for me." Tualang said calmly, spreading his wings in a meager attempt to shield his father from further harm. He turned his deep green eyes to Vegas, his smile turning into a determined frown. "I'm the one you want, not Sound. If you want to hurt anyone, you hurt me."

The SandWing was quiet for a few moments before barking a laugh.

"My orders are to get you to Ghost, whatever it takes."

His voice was nothing like what Tualang heard the previous night. It was monotone, flat, and devoid of emotion.

'Did Ghost really use the scroll for such a simple task…?' Tualang thought with a mix of disgust and confusion. Before he could dwell on it further, he felt something tightly grip his forearm. Vegas had grabbed him and was starting to walk back to the tunnel.

"Tua…" Sound's voice started.

"Don't worry about me, father, I'll be safe. I'll come back for you, I promise." He said somewhat desperately, a feeling of dread pulsing through his chest as the boulder fell back into place.

Did Ghost somehow find out Sound was telling him about Event Horizon? How could he? Tualang was the only dragon in Sound's cave and his mind was protected from Ghost's powers.

If he even had any of his own, anyway.

'Maybe something in his little stash of animus-touched artifacts.' Tualang thought with a snort, remembering the meeting in the council room when Ghost used the bracelet on him.

If he really was caught… Was that goodbye? Was Ghost just going to throw him out of the Faction? No… he went through all that trouble just to get him there in the first place. Was he somehow going to be cursed like Vegas?

Was that the last time he would ever see his father?

The thought made him want to cry, but no tears came.

Before long, Vegas and Tualang pushed through the doors of the council room. As they entered Vegas finally let go of his forearm, the scales pulsing with discomfort as the vice grip finally vanished. Everything was still a blur at that moment. Tualang could see the seven rugs arranged on the ground just as they were before, but something new was in the room.

Wait, no. There were multiple new somethings. Familiar somethings.

Something crimson. Something purple. Something black with hints of purple and green.

'What… That can't be… How did they…' He thought.

"Ah, there you are, Tualang." Ghost's voice resounded from the far end of the room. The grey NightWing was standing in front of the three newcomers, his large form towering above them. "Thank you Vegas, you've done me a huge favor."

At that, something new crossed the SandWing's face. He quickly pulled his bandana off, revealing a look of confusion. He looked at Tualang for an answer, who was only able to give a helpless frown in return.

Tualang quickly turned his attention to the three newcomers. They turned to face him as he entered the room and he gave them a somewhat bewildered look. Four faces stared back at him.

Orion's bored scowl.

Sol's concerned frown.

Nova's look of fear.

And perhaps most concerning, Ghost's malicious smile.

* * *

 _I would like to offer a quick apology for the sporadic updates. I've been feeling really down about my writing as of late and as a result lost the motivation to write for a good while. I am getting back into somewhat of a groove however, so updates may be more frequent._

 _Please let me know your opinions in the reviews. This story means a lot to me and I want to know what I can do to improve the writing._

 _Until next time,_

 _RP26_


	18. Chapter 17: Thank You, My Friends

_**Chapter 17**_

 _Thank You, My Friends_

The conference room was eerily quiet for almost a minute before Tualang swallowed the lump in his throat and took a few steps forward.

"What is this?" He asked Ghost, his emerald green eyes darting between the three newcomers.

"I could ask you the same thing," Ghost said with a scowl, following the smaller dragon's gaze around the room. "You have a lot of explaining to do. Get to it, then. Did you lead these dragons here? Did you send a message out while I wasn't looking? Wait, that can't be right… I would've…" He cut himself off, the fierce look fading momentarily before returning just as fast.

Tualang took a deep breath and opened his mouth, ready to whip up an explanation.

Sol was a little faster, however.

"Excuse me, if I may be so bold as to intervene," She said calmly, Ghost whipping his gaze in her direction. "Tualang didn't lead us here, I can promise you that. You don't have to worry about any secrets getting out or whatever. The fact that we happened upon the same mountain as him is nothing more than mere coincidence."

Ghost looked doubtful, but Nova chimed in moments later.

"I-It's true! Admittedly, we- we were looking for him, but he's not the reason we ended up here. Like Sol said, your scouts finding us was just a coincidence."

Orion gave Nova a look but she had already finished talking. Ghost's pale green eyes darted between Sol, Nova, Orion, Vegas, and Tualang before the large dragon let out a low growl, his tail lashing on the floor behind him. The massive NightWing shook his head and pulled out a scroll.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tualang could see Vegas flinch.

"Get these dragons situated. I'll deal with this later." He said, staring intently at the pale gold SandWing in front of him. The moment the words left Ghost's mouth, Vegas nodded and pulled something resembling a blowgun out of his vest. Before Tualang could get a closer look, Vegas pointed it at him and he felt something sharp prick his neck. Three more puffs followed elsewhere in the room.

Tualang's eyes closed and everything went dark before he could hit the ground.

The low rumble of thunder brought him back to consciousness. His dark green eyes opened slowly, his blurry vision adjusting to the sight of the room. One thing was immediately clear to him: This time he didn't wake up in the room he shared with Vegas. No, this was somewhere different.

For starters, the room was maybe three times larger than the aforementioned shared quarters. Even still, it bore some resemblance. There were still windows on the far wall and the balcony was in relatively the same spot, though like the room itself, it was considerably larger than last time.

At least it wasn't a dungeon. Whatever Ghost had in mind for them didn't involve throwing them behind bars, or even worse, isolating them like he did Sound.

Tualang groggily stood up and rubbed his eyes, still feeling woozy. The tranquilizer dart Vegas hit him with certainly did what it was supposed to. Hell, from what he could tell, it was a lot stronger than the ones his tribe used back in the rainforest. Even as he shook his head and rubbed his eyes, a dizzy feeling lingered in his head.

'Okay… just try walking.'

He swallowed the lump in his throat and took a careful step forward, feeling the cool stone floor meet his talons. A small smile formed on the corners of his mouth and he took another step, his talon this time meeting something crimson.

'Weird. Why is the floor painted here?' Tualang thought before blinking and looking at the crimson again. 'Wait, the floor is also breathing. That can't be a good sign.'

It took him a minute to realize that the crimson wasn't part of the floor at all. Rather, he realized as he felt the warmth of the SkyWing's scales, it was Sol he almost stepped on. He blinked and took a step back, making sure not to wake her. Stepping on a sleeping SkyWing sounded like a good way to get a blast of fire in the face or a slash to the throat.

Tualang rubbed his eyes once again as the sedative slowly dissipated from his body. As his vision cleared up, he finally got a better look at his surroundings. To the left of the sleeping SkyWing were two dark shapes, of which Tualang immediately recognized. The NightWing siblings, like Sol, were fast asleep.

One dragon was missing, however. Taking a moment to clear his head, Tualang realized Vegas was nowhere to be found. The last he saw the SandWing…

'Right. Ghost ordered him to knock us out.' He remembered, blinking as he recalled the sound of the blowgun. 'So he doesn't want us dead. That's reassuring, I guess. But where is Vegas now?'

He didn't like any of the answers that popped into his head. At least for the time being, he decided to forget about the assassin. There were more pressing matters to deal with in that very room. His dark green eyes softened up a little as he looked between the three unconscious dragons.

Ever since he arrived at the mountain, he thought he really was alone. He thought these dragons forgot all about him. Before they found him, Vegas and Sound were seemingly his only allies in the mountain and one was exceedingly untrustworthy and the other was still a mystery to him. Sure, he found his father and all, but he couldn't help but feel… disappointed. He still knew very little about the cobalt blue SeaWing and it didn't look like he was going to get much more information any time soon thanks to Ghost.

In any case, he didn't know how to feel about the trio finding him at the mountain. Excited? Relieved? Scared? Concerned? They seemingly went to Inlet with him solely because they wanted to get out of the rainforest for a while and it was simply safer to travel in a group of four. Nova was the only one that actually helped him gather information on Sound while in the city.

Maybe they really did care for some reason. Maybe they saw him as something slightly more than a convenient travel partner. But why? What reason would they have to suddenly care about his well being? It was well within their ability to just go back to the rainforest once he vanished. Why didn't they?

Tualang's dark green eyes drifted down to the unconscious trio once again. It didn't make a lot of sense to him, but he had to be happy they were there. He didn't know who to trust in the mountain and having dragons he (barely) knew helped assure him the entire world wasn't out to get him.

He chuckled quietly and turned his attention to the balcony, taking quiet, careful steps out of the room. As he stepped onto the balcony, the first thing he noticed was the sun was nowhere to be found. Rather, a sea of dark grey clouds dominated the sky. The only thing that told him that it wasn't night time was nothing more than a feeling in his gut.

The RainWing leaned over the balcony railing and quickly noticed another thing: it was raining. It wasn't a thunderstorm by any means, however. Instead the rain was calm, accompanied by little gusts of wind here and there. He could feel the raindrops splattering against the scales on his back and couldn't help but smile sadly. It reminded him of the rainforest, the home that he abandoned in favor of learning more about the family that abandoned him.

Before his thoughts could drift to Grapevine, he shook his head and tried to think of something else.

'Think about the Faction.' His brain suggested as he continued to stare at the neighboring rain-pelted mountains.

That wasn't a terrible idea.

'Even if he thinks I led these three to the mountain somehow, Ghost still wants me alive. Clearly he wants Sound alive too, even with his vocal protests about the Faction and everything he's told me, from my being an animus to Event Horizon itself. Either Ghost really is this big, evil dragon I'm being led to believe or there's something I'm still not being told. Would Sound really continue to hold secrets from me even after he showed just how relieved he was both to find out I'm alive and to know I'm in the same mountain?'

Great, now he was thinking that his own father was planning on stabbing him in the back. Time to change topics again. He stood in silence for a moment before turning his gaze up to the dark clouds above. Things were much simpler just a couple of days ago, back when he was under the impression he was just going to find his father. If everything went according to plan he would've met Sound and they would've spent a couple of days learning about each other and making up for lost time before heading home, be it between the imposing trees of the rainforest or under the raging waves of the ocean.

Home… The rainforest seemed like a distant memory now. With all he knew about the Faction and if Ghost was really the dragon Sound and Vegas said he was, there was no way he was going to let Tualang just go home and live the rest of his days in peace.

Before he could switch his thoughts to yet another topic, he heard something from the doorway to the balcony. Craning his neck, he spotted the female NightWing standing in the doorway, her smooth, dark purple scales illuminated ever so slightly from a torch on the wall inside the room.

The two dragons stared at each other awkwardly for a couple of silent moments, Nova's light green eyes meeting Tualang's emerald gaze. Quickly growing uncomfortable with the silence, he cleared his throat.

"Um, hey."

"Hey." She responded, walking towards the balcony and assuming relatively the same position he was in, crossing her forearms and resting them on the railing. Her light green eyes pointed at the mountains in the distance and she had a look on her face that Tualang, in the short time he knew her, had never seen before. The normally bubbly and optimistic NightWing seemed… troubled. He would even go as far as say she was upset.

A flash of lighting in the distance lit up the area momentarily, giving Tualang a good look at her purple and grey scales before the light quickly faded away. The duo stood together in silence for nearly a minute before Nova decided to speak up.

"We were worried, you know." She began, looking down at another set of mountains. "That night in Inlet, after I finished asking around for information, I went back to the inn with Sol. I fully expected you to walk through the door and join us at any minute, but you never came back. The only dragon that came through that door that evening was Orion."

Tualang blinked and let out a deep sigh.

"Nova, I-"

She cut him off before he could explain himself.

"I was scared, Tualang!" She nearly shouted, quickly calming herself afterwards. "I was… worried, sad, and… angry. I thought you left us the moment you got good information about your father. You would've had no use for us by that point, so why bother keeping us around? Why carry all that dead weight around with you when you could just find him yourself?"

The dark purple NightWing paused to catch her breath, once again resuming before Tualang could pitch in.

"I truly believed you ditched us because you wanted to work alone from that point on. Sol didn't want to believe it, but I saw the look on her face. She and I were sharing the same thought. It wasn't until Orion came back to the inn that I thought otherwise."

Nova finally stopped talking long enough for Tualang to ask a question.

"Orion? What does he have to do with my supposed ditching?" The RainWing asked, his scales flashing with a mix of curiosity and confusion. The other NightWing twin seemingly took a disliking to him the moment they met. Hell, Tualang was willing to bet he only showed up to Grapevine's funeral because Nova made him.

A strange look crossed Nova's face and she was silent for a moment before standing up straight and clearing her throat.

"He was the one that saw you. Sol and I were already back at the inn when you disappeared, but Orion was at the beach that evening. He said he saw a group of dragons surround you and some SandWing club you over the head before lifting you onto their back. He didn't want to say anything to them for fear of suffering the same fate, but he rushed back to the inn and told us everything he saw."

"Apparently, he got a good look at the direction they flew off to. After a bit of convincing, we packed up and flew after you. Figured it wouldn't be too hard to spot a large group of dragons carrying a RainWing if we started flying that moment. We lost the group shortly after, but after a couple of days of searching, they found us instead. They grabbed us and took us here and…"

Nova shrugged her wings helplessly, a defeated look on her face.

"I'm pretty sure you know the rest."

Tualang stared at her quietly for a few seconds before sliding closer to her, twining their tails together with a tight squeeze. In that moment he nearly forgot about the Faction, about Sound, about Ghost, about Vegas, and about Event Horizon. He didn't want to worry about the potential end of the world right then, he just wanted to feel something real. Nova didn't know anything about the Faction. For all Tualang knew (or cared), she was an innocent, kind hearted NightWing.

He didn't care whether that was an accurate assessment or not. After spending his past few days stuck inside the mountain with dragons he wasn't sure he could trust, it was nice to just have a shoulder to lean on.

"Thank you for coming back for me. When I first arrived here, the thought crossed my mind that you three gave up on me, that you didn't care that I was gone. I see now that I couldn't be further from the truth."

Nova faced him and gave him a bright smile.

"Of course we came to find you. You're our friend, Tualang!"

Friend. That was still a weird word. He only knew the trio since they left the rainforest with him, but they certainly seemed to trust him for the most part. Orion was the only one he had doubts about, but it was clear he could be swayed by what Nova wanted.

Were they friends? Tualang wanted to believe so. It certainly made his current situation a lot less stressful, anyway. But even if they were all friends now, he couldn't help but think that wouldn't be the case once he told them about his powers.

A repeated snapping noise drew Tualang back from his thoughts.

"Tua, hello? Can you hear me?" Nova inquired, snapping her talons in front of his eyes. "I asked if you wanted to go back inside. The storm is starting to pick up."

"Ah, right. Sorry. Let's go." Tualang apologized, releasing his grip on her tail before turning and stepping back into the large room. His eyes locked on to the other two dragons as he entered, quickly noticing that they were finally awake. Before he could say anything, a flash of crimson, pink, and orange shot towards him and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

"Oh thank the heavens, you're alright." Sol exclaimed cheerfully, the strong SkyWing hugging the large RainWing tightly for a few seconds before letting go and stepping back. "I'm so sorry it took us so long to get here. I didn't expect to find you in the ass end of nowhere."

"Don't apologize, Sol. It's not realistic to expect to easily find a specific dragon way up here in the northern mountains." The RainWing paused and silently looked at each of the three dragons in the room with him, his scales mixing to a shade of deep blue with scattered clouds of yellow. "...I'm just glad you decided not to give up on me. I wish there was a way for me to have told you what was happening to me, but Ve- that SandWing, I mean- was smart enough to knock me out before I could call for help."

He turned to face Orion, the NightWing raising a dark green ridge as he did so.

"Nova told me everything. Thank you for telling them what really happened on the beach."

Orion just scoffed.

"Why are you thanking me? I was just relaying the truth, nothing more. It was their idea to come after you."

'He's as charming as ever.' Tualang said, mentally frowning but deciding to not prod Orion further. "Well, in any case, my point stands. Thank you for everything you did in Inlet."

Sol blew a small flame into the air above her, a small scowl on her face. Even if things seemed fine at the moment, Tualang could tell something was troubling all three of the other dragons. Before he could ask, Sol spoke up for him.

"So, where are we anyway?" She asked. "What's that big grey NightWing want with us, or you specifically?"

"Yeah," Nova's voice chimed in. "What is this all about? I assume something to do with your father, right?"

"You have a lot of explaining to do, so I suggest you get to it." Orion huffed.

Tualang looked at each of them as they spoke, nodding his head slowly once they finished. He understood they had questions… hell, he still had plenty of his own. Even if he couldn't explain everything, he could at least tell them about Ghost, about Event Horizon, and about the Faction. That information would help them understand the situation somewhat, or at least he hoped so.

Then there came the issue of his powers. None of them knew he possessed animus magic, himself having just found out thanks to Sound. On one talon, he didn't want to tell them. Vegas once warned him that the Faction had ears everywhere. Revealing his one secret out loud could jeopardize his own safety.

On the other talon, he was already on thin ice with the trio. If they found he was keeping secrets from them, their already uneasy trust in him would vanish completely. It seemed his choice was to either risk the Faction knowing for sure about his powers but restore the trust of the dragons he needed by his side, or keep himself hidden for the time being and destroy whatever friendship he had with Nova, Sol, and Orion.

At that moment, having a few dragons closeby that trusted him certainly seemed like the more viable option. He hated the thought of being stuck inside the mountain alone again.

"Alright," Tualang cleared his throat and sat down, forcing his colors back to his usual pattern. "I'll tell you everything I know about this place, I promise."

The other three dragons followed suit, sitting on the large rug that covered the middle of the room.

Tualang watched with a blank expression. The moment they sat down, he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His deep green eyes scanned the trio momentarily before he opened his mouth.

"Before I start, there's something important you need to know about me."


	19. Chapter 18: The Lives We Lead

Before we get started, I want to thank you all so much for being patient with me. I know it took a seriously long time for me to finally get this chapter out and I do deeply apologize for that. Truth be told, I haven't been very motivated to write lately, but now the motivation is back! Here's hoping I'll be able to get chapters out on a more frequent basis from now on.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 18**_

 _The Lives We Lead_

Orion frowned as the wet sand squashed between his talons. He'd been on the shores of Inlet for only a few minutes and he already hated everything about it. Granted, that wasn't really saying much. He hated a lot of things. The volcano, the new NightWing village, squishy fruit, the rainforest, rain, RainWings in general…

The frown remained on his face as he turned his green eyes up to the sky. The last rays of sunlight were slowly vanishing behind the horizon, giving way to the empty darkness of night. The town was far from dark, however. Just as the sun departed for the evening, Orion could see the city's lamps light up one by one out of the corner of his eye. While the beach had no such lamps, the glow from the city managed to illuminate the sand around Orion just barely enough for him to see.

He looked down at his talons, the gentle tide just managing to reach the tips of his claws. 'What am I doing here?' He found himself thinking suddenly. 'What am I doing with my life in general? No matter where I go, I never feel complete. I never feel like… myself.'

Orion closed his eyes and inhaled, the NightWing able to smell the hints of salt coming from the water in front of him.

From the day he hatched, he seemed abnormal. He rarely showed any kind of emotion, which was surprising even for a NightWing. He never cried, he never panicked, and most intriguingly, he almost never showed signs of happiness. Only with Nova did he let hints of joy seep through his otherwise boring exterior. Though emotion was not something he excelled at, his sister's own happiness and safety was always a priority for him. It felt good to help her. Wherever Nova went, Orion followed.

'But what happens now?' He thought, flicking his tail against the sand. 'We're in Inlet because of Tualang. More specifically, I'm here because Nova wanted to go with him. He would've been just fine traveling here with Sol. Nova and I could be in the rainforest right now.'

'Why did she want to help?' He wondered. 'It's just like her to do it because she can, but surely there's a better reason. We have no reason to care for Tualang- he was just a stranger a few days ago- but here we are.'

Orion opened his eyes and looked around him again. He was just about to start back to the inn when he heard commotion a short distance from him. He was just barely able to make out a group of dragons circling a large RainWing.

A RainWing that had just emerged from the ocean, no less. There was only one dragon that could be.

"Tualang?" Orion muttered as he watched. Before he could think anything else, a dragon about Tualang's size covered in dusty gold scales crashed some blunt object against the back of his head. The hybrid stumbled for a few seconds before he fell to the sand. Orion's eyes widened, his expression still somewhat blank. "What the hell…?"

He wasn't stupid enough to go running after the group. From what he could tell, he was outnumbered ten to one. He could only watch in a mix of surprise and indecision as the dusty gold dragon and a burly MudWing wrapped the unconscious Tualang in some sort of carrying apparatus and lifted him off the ground. In the blink of an eye, the group was airborne, the dragon in front leading them somewhere to the northwest.

'The only thing out there is the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. What is this all about?'

Orion blinked and grit his teeth, taking one final look at the fading group of silhouettes, memorizing the direction they flew off to. Immediately after, the NightWing ran to the town and jumped into the air, making a beeline for the inn.

'I have to tell them.'

"You're an animus?" Nova said in disbelief, her light green eyes widening. Tualang could tell she was just a few seconds from bombarding him with questions so he quickly jumped back into the conversation.

"...Yes. I found out just the other day. Ah, when I met my father for the first time, actually."

"So your father is here after all." Sol mused, tilting her head. "And thanks to him, you found out you have animus magic. I'm honestly not as surprised as I think I should be right now."

"Speak for yourself, this is incredible!" Nova exclaimed. "Tualang is an a-" A purple and orange talon clamped over her mouth before she could say anything else.

"Yes, I am." Tualang said quietly. "But you can't shout that for the entire mountain to hear. My father warned me… he warned me not to trust anyone inside the mountain. He said ears are everywhere. I don't know what they'll do if they find out, but he seemed pretty insistent that I cover it all up for now. So, what say you? Can you keep quiet about it, please?"

"Mmhmmf." Nova's muffled voice responded, the NightWing simultaneously nodding her head. At this, Tualang let go and sat back down on the rug.

Orion and Sol exchanged a look before turning their gazes back on Tualang.

"We'll keep quiet, so long as you explain everything you know about this place, just like you promised you would." Orion huffed, lashing his tail a few times before similarly sitting back down on the rug. "I'm all ears. Explain away."

At that, Tualang got to it. He told them everything he'd learned since waking up in his shared room, from what the Faction was about to Sound's semi-imprisonment to the visions he'd been given from Ghost's bracelet. He went on to explain the help he'd received from Vegas, as well as including the information about the cells down near Sound's chambers.

As he finished, a hush fell over the four dragons. Nova, Sol, and Orion held similar expressions on their faces. The female NightWing stared at the rug in thought, the SkyWing doing the same with a more prevalent scowl on her face.

"So your dad's imprisoned by a NightWing that wants to wipe out all life on the continent. I have to admit, that's not a terrible excuse, even if it is a little cliche." Sol mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "That SandWing… you said he was helping you before?"

Tualang nodded firmly.

"I see… but in that case, why did he attack us in the conference room? Without any hesitation, I might add. That doesn't seem like something a potential ally would do."

"Because he couldn't help it." Tualang said, rubbing his talons together anxiously. "Ghost has a ton of animus-touched artifacts hidden in the conference room. One of those is a scroll. When Vegas was less than a year old, some bandits found it and burned its spell into his mind. Whenever someone has that scroll, he's forced to obey whatever commands he's given."

"So that's what Ghost was reading from before we were knocked out." Orion snorted, lashing his tail as he did before. "I'm not buying it. How do you know this SandWing isn't willingly working with the Faction? The scroll might not even be animus-touched for all we know, it may just be an act to get you to trust him and let him in on your secrets."

Tualang paused, his mouth open slightly as if he were about to say something before Orion's words sank in. As unfortunate as it sounded, he had to admit the NightWing had a point. He had no reason to believe Vegas' kindness was genuine. Why would this SandWing want to help him anyway?

To that extent, what reason did he have to believe Sound wasn't manipulating him?

A sinking feeling lodged in his chest. That was a thought process he did not want to expound on. If he came all this way just to learn he was being used…

"I don't know that for sure." He answered, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I don't know who I should trust here. I think I know where I stand on Ghost- and to that extent, the rest of the Faction- but everyone else? Vegas? My father?"

The other three dragons silently exchanged a look.

"Then why bother with any of this?" Sol asked, ruffling her wings. "If you're on the fence, you could just leave, right?"

Nova immediately shook her head.

"No. Tualang came here to find his father. This whole endeavour is a waste of time if he doesn't at least learn more about him." She was silent for a moment, looking up and narrowing her eyes at the ceiling. "Besides… If everything we've been told about the Faction is true, I don't see Ghost allowing Tua to just up and leave. It won't happen."

Tualang nodded slowly at Nova's answer as if silently thanking her for stepping in. The RainWing cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

"After what Ghost showed me, I don't think I could leave here even if I wanted to. If I were to get out of here and return to the rainforest and continue life as normal, I might drive myself insane knowing the end of the world is coming. Knowing I did nothing to try and prevent it would tear me apart. All those dragons in the rainforest living their best lives, working together, full of joy… I see them in my head and I just can't stomach the images of me watching them every single day, knowing their imminent fate."

He remembered the carefree RainWing dragonets he saw in the days he volunteered at the hatchery. They were innocent and terribly naive to the dangers of the great world they lived in, but there was always hope for them. They would grow up in a world at peace, learn to work with and love their NightWing neighbors, and the rainforest would prosper because of it. If Event Horizon were to occur, none of this would happen.

Tualang felt sick. The faces of the little dragonets flashed through his mind, now knowing they, as well as hundreds of dragonets in other tribes, were now at risk because of Ghost's ideals.

He had the power to stop it.

"As scared as I am, I know I can't leave here. Not yet, anyway. It just wouldn't feel right."

The room fell quiet as he finished speaking. A low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance, as well as the flurry of heavy raindrops hitting the balcony. A bolt of lightning flashed off in the distance, sending a momentary flash into the semi-lit room.

"I'm not really sure what to say now." Sol murmured, rubbing the bridge of her snout. "I think I've just been roped into helping you here."

"Sol," Tualang began, turning his dark green eyes on the bright crimson dragon. "That's not necessary, really. I appreciate you coming out here but I don't want you to feel like you're being forced into this."

He was met with a cold scowl from the female.

"Tualang," She hissed. "I'm a doctor, you idiot. It's literally my job to keep dragons from dying. I'm not going to stand by and watch as some hack wipes out the continent. Whether you like it or not, I'm staying right here."

Nova, who had been looking at Sol, turned her gaze to the RainWing and nodded feverently. Orion stared at his sister, muttering something along the lines of "don't do it, Nova."

She ignored him.

"I'm staying with you too. It's like you said, if any of this is true, I can't just go back to normal life knowing myself and thousands of other dragons will be dead in just a few…" She paused, tapping her chin. "Weeks? Months? Whatever. My point is, I'm going to help, at least until we know the whole story."

"Damn it." Orion grumbled almost inaudibly.

Tualang closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, taking in their words. As much as he hated bothering them, he had to admit he couldn't do it alone, even with his animus powers. What were the odds he'd run into another animus, or at least animus-resistant objects like Vegas' mind scroll? If he tried going alone and ended up facing these, it would spell the end. At least now he had help.

Even more than that, it eased his worries about the other dragons. Though they were dragged into the conflict because of him, at least two of them were still willing to stay by his side.

As he opened his eyes, he turned to look at the one dragon who hadn't voiced his opinion on the matter.

"How about you, Orion?" He asked, tilting his head somewhat. "What will you do? If you want to go back to the rainforest, I won't stop you."

Orion scowled at him, remaining silent for a few moments. After a bit of thinking, he let out a defeated groan before sitting up straight.

"I'll stay," He huffed. "But only because of Nova. If anything- ANYTHING- happens to my sister, I will kill you myself. Event Horizon will be the least of your worries. Do you understand, RainWing?"

'Harsh.' Tualang thought, but gave a firm nod regardless.

"I understand completely. I won't let any harm come to her, I promise."

"Thanks for asking for my input, Orion," Nova scoffed from the other side of the rug. The look on her face was a mix of disinterest, annoyance, and impatience. "I'm perfectly capable of speaking for myself, you know. You don't have to police my every move."

Orion whipped around to face her.

"Yes, I do," He said flatly, lashing his tail. Tualang's eyes widened somewhat as he saw something different in the male NightWing's light green eyes. "And you know very well why. We've discussed this."

"That doesn't mean I need you acting like some guardian angel all the time!" Nova snapped, her tail lashing like her brother's. "Nine years on this world and you've still yet to learn that you can't protect me from everything."

Orion growled, lashing his tail, yet he stared at her in silence. Another flash of lightning lit up the room for a split second, a loud clap of thunder following just seconds later. With the quick flash of light, Tualang could see the tension boiling between the NightWing siblings, the guardian brother who couldn't bear to see harm come to his sister and the sister who wanted nothing more than to live her best life without the safety blanket of her brother keeping her from experiencing the wonders and dangers of the world. Both were flawed, yet neither could exist without the other.

As thunder rolled through the mountains once more, Orion let out a deep sigh, Tualang able to see the tension leave his muscles. It was like that single exhale said something like "You're right, I need to relax," or "I'm sorry, but I just can't lose you."

The black NightWing stood up and stepped forward, wrapping his sister in a quick hug. "I'm sorry. I know I need to get better at that. Still, the thought of losing you to something you had no say in drives me insane." He muttered almost quiet enough where Tualang couldn't hear him.

"I do have a say. I really do want to do this, Orion." Nova told him, returning the hug but pulling away seconds later. "But I want you by my side, too. I can't- I mean, judging from what we've been told, we're going to need all the help we can get."

Orion, gaze went from Nova, to Sol, to Tualang, before back to his sister. He was completely silent as he considered his options, the muscles around his jaw tightening every so often out of frustration. Finally, he let out a defeated sigh and sat back down on the rug beside his sister, turning his head to look at Tualang once more.

"Fine, I'll stay." He grumbled with a flick of his tail.

"Thank you, Orion. Really, thank you."

"Sure."

Silence once more fell over the large room, broken only by the ominous grumbling of the thunderstorm just outside. Heavy raindrops continued to pound the side of the mountain, splattering against the stone before cascading down the steep ridges. Tualang watched the storm absentmindedly, taking in the sights and sounds. Seconds later, he thumped his tail against the ground and stood up.

"Alright, so we're all agreed. We'll work together to stop Ghost." Tualang said, eliciting small nods from Sol and Nova. "We'll start tomorrow. For now, we should all get some rest. Even if Vegas already helped us a bit with the darts, we have a big day ahead of us regardless. It can't hurt to get some more sleep."

"Agreed. Some of us are still recovering from the flight here." Orion huffed, standing up and shaking his wings. Tualang could see his light green eyes look over the selection of beds in the room.

"Sounds like a plan." Sol hummed and stood up, making her way over to a rocky ledge-like bed embedded into the wall.

Simultaneously, the four dragons would move to their beds, Tualang's head swirling with uncertainty as he found a hammock. Was this really going to work? Did they really have strength in numbers, or was that just something he told himself to quell the fear of what was to come? Maybe they truly were outmatched.

Still, at least he wouldn't have to face the end of the world by himself.

As he climbed into the hammock and curled up into a sleeping position, he looked at the three dragons, each a short distance from him. A warm feeling resounded through his chest as he did so, reminding himself yet again that he wasn't alone.

"Good night, you three." The RainWing said, letting out a yawn before adding in a much quieter voice, "Thank you. Thank you so much for coming back for me."

"Good night, Tualang." Nova's voice called from the other side of the dim room.

"Night." Sol's voice added.

"Mm." Orion huffed.

Just moments later, Tualang would be pulled into unconsciousness, the gentle arms of sleep wrapping him in a tight embrace. His heavy eyelids slowly closed over his deep emerald orbs, the steady rise and fall of his chest indicating he was already fast asleep.

—Earlier—

Nova wasn't sure what to think. The past few hours had been a blur. One moment she was flying through the northern reaches of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains and the next she was standing in a large conference room lined with dragons she'd never seen before.

Most, if not all of them were clad in armor, standing straight up with spears clutched in their talons. If she was being honest, Nova had to admit they looked a little silly. Clearly these weren't actual guards. No, if she had to guess, these were everyday soldiers filling the role of guards. But why? Was it because of her, Sol, and Orion? Why did their arrival warrant such precaution?

Before she could think much more about it, the large door swung open, making way for a terribly large NightWing, arguably the size of the late false-prophet Morrowseer. Even seconds after seeing him for the first time, Nova could tell something was off about this new dragon. His primary scales were a very light grey color, like the color of ash from coals that had long since burned out. His underbelly was just a shade darker, yet the membrane of his wings was more fitting for a normal NightWing. It was much darker than his main scales, yet even then it was more of a dark grey than black.

Was he a hybrid? The thought crossed Nova's mind for just a split second before she stomped it out.

No, this massive dragon was distinctly NightWing. The shape of his body, pattern of his scales, and even the way he walked seemed to confirm this. But if this were the case, what was the deal with those scales? Why were they so light? No NightWing she knew had anything lighter than the darkest shade of grey.

To that extent, she couldn't recognize the NightWing. In her nine years- seven on the volcano and two in the rainforest village- she had never seen this dragon before. Judging from the flat look on Orion's face, he didn't recognize the grey giant either.

Though, that look was very similar to his normal expression. She couldn't tell if he was studying him, angry, or just bored out of his mind.

She turned her attention back to the giant dragon. In the time she'd been watching him, he pulled a book with a dark leather cover out of a hole in the wall, the hole sealing itself up as he removed his talon. With a frown on his face, he turned to a rather strong-looking SandWing nearby, opened the book, and read a few lines from it. Suddenly, the dragon in question stood straight up and met the giant's gaze, the NightWing smiling and closing the book as he did so.

"Get the RainWing." He said with a flick of his tail.

The SandWing nodded immediately and ran out of the room. He didn't ask what for, he didn't ask for help, and most intriguingly, he didn't ask "what RainWing?" Rather, he seemed to know exactly what the NightWing wanted, as if they had some sort of link.

That was… very odd, to say the least.

'Is Tualang the RainWing he wants?' Nova thought, realization shooting through her like a bolt of lightning. 'Orion was right! Maybe we just happened to stumble upon the same group that abducted him on the beach!'

'Well, not maybe. I really doubt there's more than one of these groups up here. What are the odds there's another underground clan of dragons, living in the northern mountains, constantly wearing silver and gold bracelets? These guys fit Orion's description perfectly. If this somehow isn't the same group, lightning may strike me dead right now.'

The big NightWing at the center of the room closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting this breath out with a slow, albeit drawn out exhale. He turned to a soldier next to him, of whom Nova was unsure their tribe or even gender thanks to their entire form being clad in armor besides one the eyes and their lower jaw.

Yet another odd thing, to say the least. This dragon was the only one in the room covered in such heavy amounts of armor. Why?

She didn't know, nor was she in the place to ask questions. Despite the constant rambling in her mind, she was far too scared to open her mouth at that moment.

"Take over my duties around the mountain for now. I need to take care of this." The NightWing told Armor Dragon, who nodded slowly and started to leave the room. As she did so, she paused momentarily, turning her head to look at the new trio of dragons. From what Nova could see, the dragon's unblocked eye drifted over each of them before she looked ahead and continued walking.

Had she been able to study Armor Dragon's form for just a split second longer, she could've sworn they looked at Sol for just a moment longer than either of the NightWing siblings.

Nova also noted how they didn't act nearly as quickly as the SandWing.

Nova was ripped from her thoughts once more, this time by a deep voice from nearby.

"Oh, by the moons, what an unnecessary headache." The large NightWing grumbled, rubbing his eyes with his grey talons. "You are all dismissed. Leave this room now." He told all the soldiers, who exchanged glances with each other before bowing somewhat and exiting the room one by one. As the last soldier left, the large door closed once more, leaving the giant dragon alone in the room with the trio.

Or rather, the trio alone with the giant.

The dragon stood in silence for a few moments before turning to face the younger trio. His light green gaze fell on Sol first, his brow twisted into somewhat of a curious scowl. He then looked at Orion, his gaze resting on the smaller male for barely a fraction of the time it was on Sol before he finally looked at Nova. Trying to hide her fear, Nova put on a brave face and stood straight up, staring directly into the big dragon's eyes.

His expression remained the same curious scowl it was prior. He seemed to lean in ever so slightly, as if trying to get a better look at Nova. Suddenly, his expression warped into one of surprise and he took a step back. His eyes, formerly cold and calculating, were now full of intrigue, surprise, and even elation.

After taking a moment to compose himself, the grey dragon looked back down at her, a dark, yet somehow welcoming smile forming across his face.

Nova wasn't sure what to feel, glancing at Sol and then Orion momentarily before looking back at the mysterious dragon. She had no idea what that look meant. Should she be scared? Freaked out? Confused?

Admittedly, she was all three at that moment.

Before any of them could ask what was going on, the giant opened his mouth again.

"Hello, Nova. It is so nice to see you again."


	20. Chapter 19: Beautifully Imperfect

_**Chapter 19**_

 _Beautifully Imperfect_

Nova found herself standing in an empty part of the rainforest a short distance from the NightWing village, squinting at the canopy as her purple scales were lightly pelted with tiny raindrops. It had been just over a month since the destruction of the NightWings' volcano home and subsequent end of the war, yet she couldn't forget the picture of her old home. She could still see the dark, ash-blanketed sky and the tight, terrifying corridors of the fortress.

That was far from it all, though. Even after moving to the rainforest with the rest of her tribe, she couldn't get the smell of smoke out of her nostrils. Was she doing something wrong? Maybe she needed to help her mother tend to her garden more. Yeah, maybe if she surrounded herself with an excessive amount of flowers every waking moment, she would finally smell something other than ash, sulfur, and sadness.

Nova frowned as she felt her stomach rumble. There was another thing she liked about the rainforest: the sheer amount of food that was now readily available to the NightWings. Back at the fortress, food was never guaranteed. Some days she'd have just enough to fill her up, some days she'd have to share with Orion and her parents, and others she'd simply have to go without. As neither she nor her brother were seen as terribly essential or "special", the tribe didn't find it necessary to provide for them every day like they did for the dragons that actually ran the tribe. Thanks to this, up until the day they arrived in the rainforest, she and the rest of her family were rather weak and sickly-looking. Hell, even now, Nova could see her ribs.

"Gross." She muttered, giving her somewhat-visible rib cage a poke. She wasn't as skinny as she was a month prior thanks to the plentiful food in the rainforest, but it was still taking some time to get into a healthy shape. As much as she wanted to force herself to put on some weight, eating a ton of food at once wasn't exactly the healthiest thing to do, especially for starving dragons. In fact, that first week, she had accidentally made herself sick because she ate too much.

That was a fun time, for sure.

With a small sigh, she took a few steps forward and found a small pond between a couple of younger looking trees. They weren't nearly as high as those encircling the rest of the area, being only a few feet taller than Nova herself. She stepped forward once more and looked down at the water, a rather clear reflection staring back at her.

She was a lot of things. A survivor, a refugee, and most importantly, she was convinced she wasn't all that normal.

'Orion keeps telling me it's nonsense,' She thought as she continued to watch her reflection, tapping the silver teardrop scales behind her eyes. 'But he hasn't seen the things I have. He doesn't know the full story. Maybe I don't have the full power I should, but I know I have something.'

Her dreams. While she wasn't a true prophet in a sense where she could see the future any time, it wasn't uncommon for her dreams- or rather, nightmares- to include brief gazes into the future. She foresaw her broken arm when she was two. She foresaw Orion catching food poisoning when they were four. She foresaw the earrings her father made for her on her fifth hatching day. Most recently, and most importantly, she dreamt of the volcano's explosion three weeks before it actually happened.

There were many more, but very rarely could she actually remember her dreams by the time she woke up. She was certain she had visions nightly, yet was unable to remember them. The higher-up NightWings had studied her condition for a little while after she (and later her mother) brought it up, but evidently decided fairly quickly she was worth neither the time nor effort. A defective prophet was no use to the tribe.

So, she grew up as a normal NightWing child, wondering night after night if she would have to go to bed hungry, going about her days with the constant rumbling in her stomach, and constantly being told that despite these problems, she should be proud to be part of "the greatest tribe in Pyrrhia."

Bull.

The same dragons that boasted about being the strongest, most intelligent tribe on the continent didn't even live anywhere close to it. For a tribe that was supposedly so smart, why was there a food shortage? Why were dragonets starving?

She hated it. She hated the fortress, she hated the island, and she hated a good portion of her tribe, to that extent. As such, the sudden move to the rainforest wasn't particularly earth-shattering. It wasn't hard to adjust. She was still a defective prophet, but at least now she wasn't a starving, lonely, and sad defective prophet.

Nova closed her eyes and sighed deeply. 'Moons above, why give me such a gift if you won't let me use it properly? Why let me see these things if I can't remember them? What purpose does that serve? Moreover, what purpose do I serve because of it?'

As she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a much different sight. She was her nine year-old self now, the one that had fallen asleep in the large Faction bedroom just moments prior. However, instead of being in the bedroom, she was standing somewhere outside the mountain. Nova looked around and realized she was standing somewhere in the same mountain range, yet the scenery was different than the area surrounding the Faction's mountain.

She could quickly tell why.

Looking up, the sky was almost completely black, yet the sun was still out, judging from the dim glow of the corona against the dark background.

'Some sort of eclipse?' She thought, narrowing her eyes in confusion. Taking a closer look at her surroundings, she realized something was wrong, yet she wasn't exactly sure what.

'Oh. Probably that thing right there.' Nova's light green eyes fixed on a nearby mountain. Wait, no. That couldn't be a mountain, could it? The shape was all wrong and it seemed to be… moving.

Flying, even.

As her eyes adjusted, Nova could finally make out just what the sight was. Steadily climbing into the air was a large mass of land, possibly the size of a city like Inlet. While the top seemed to be that of a hilly grassland, the bottom was jagged, thick, and tapered down into a sharp tip near the bottom. How could such a large chunk of land be flying? Moreover, why?

Nova blinked and was transported somewhere else. Opening her eyes, she took in her new surroundings, seeing she was now standing near a lake just outside the mountain range. Looking up, the eclipse was still active, yet the flying landmass was much higher in the air now.

Suddenly, it stopped moving. Miles above the south end of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains, the landmass hovered threateningly.

"What is that?" A voice asked beside Nova, who quickly realized she wasn't alone. No, there were a ton of dragons standing around her now. As she turned to look at them, she gasped as she discovered something strange about them. Every dragon- possibly fifty just in that general area- lacked any semblance of identity. Rather than being a mixed batch of colorful, unique dragons, every single one was covered in plain grey scales. In addition, Nova couldn't say for sure exactly what tribe they belonged to. All of these dragons looked exactly the same: plain, boring, shells trying to pass themselves off as living dragons.

Perhaps most terrifying, their eye sockets were empty.

"Mom, what's going on?" A smaller voice resounded from one of the blank dragons. "Where did the sun go?"

"Why hasn't the eclipse ended yet?"

Another voice.

"What about that chunk of land? You all see it, right?!"

"How is that even possible?"

"Something's wrong."

Something was indeed very wrong.

At that moment, without warning, a massive blue fireball erupted into the sky, far above the floating island itself. Upon closer examination, Nova realized the fireball came from somewhere on the island, having shot straight up before stopping mid-air.

Nova's eyes widened in fear.

'Wait, is this…?'

A deafening boom resounded through the area before the fireball exploded outwards, like a net were cast across the continent itself. Everything seemed to happen instantly. Mere seconds after the boom, the featureless dragons around her shrieked in pain as they collapsed to the ground, their bodies- scales, bones, flesh, and all- letting out sickening hissing noises as they seemed to melt into nothing.

'Event Horizon…?'

The screams continued. Nova's stomach lurched as she realized she was hearing the screams of the dragonets now, melting away with their parents. Some, in the mere seconds they had to live, vainly begged for their parents to save them.

It was a vision. For the first time in almost two years, Nova was having a true vision in her dreams.

Trying to ignore the screaming, Nova crumpled to the ground and threw her wings over her head, pressing her palms tightly against her ears. Even with these measures, she could still hear the agonzied cries of dragons all across the continent as their bodies melted away as a result of the blue energy.

"Shut up!" She yelled, slamming her eyes shut as she felt tears well up. "Shut up, all of you!"

The pained dragons did no such thing. The shrieking persisted for another minute before the last voice went quiet somewhere in the far reaches of the continent. Nova trembled and remained in her position, her tears gently falling from her face and onto the soft grass below her.

This was Event Horizon. The scene was exactly as Tualang had described it: dark skies and waves of blue energy, followed by dragons everywhere dying almost instantly.

"But it wasn't instant…" Nova sobbed, clenching her talons tightly. "I could hear their voices, damn it…"

The purple NightWing would remain in this position for a few more minutes before shakily removing her wings, peeling her eyes open ever so slightly. Around her, the continent was calm. There were no remains left from the crowd of dragons she'd just been standing with. Thinking the vision was over, she slowly stood up and looked around, taking in the scenery momentarily.

The eclipse had ended, though the island was still floating far above the mountains. Nova blinked a little and let a frown form on her face.

As the sun's light began to shine on the continent once more, her frown grew larger and she looked down at her talons, which were still clenched extremely tightly. So tight, in fact, that she had managed to stab herself in the palms without noticing.

Before she woke up, one last thought rang through her head.

'Why did I survive…?'

The feeling of something vigorously shaking her brought Nova back to consciousness. As her eyes slowly opened, she saw the room shifting and wobbling viciously. Seconds later, she felt something gripping her shoulder tightly, which she realized was the source of the shaking. Her eyes fully opened and she turned to face the owner of the pair of talons latched on her side. As she did so, the shaking stopped, much to her relief.

"Tua?" She asked groggily, blinking rapidly as her eyesight adjusted. The large RainWing was looking down at her with a good bit of concern plastered across his face, further evidenced by the subtle shifting of the scales behind his ears. "What are you doing?"

"Me?" Tualang asked, raising a ridge in both concern and confusion. "You were having some sort of nightmare. Your screaming woke me up."

"Orion and I as well." Sol's voice jumped in from nearby. "I've never heard you yell like that before. Must've been some nightmare."

Nova blinked and rubbed her eyes with the back of her talons. Was her dream really that bad? She could only vaguely remember what she dreamt of. Something about standing in a field… anguished screams of other dragons…

"I think… I think I may have had a vision…" Nova murmured uncomfortably, rubbing her talons together. "I don't remember the specifics, but… I saw something."

"Here we go." Orion mumbled. "Nova, we're not starting this again."

Nova frowned and was just about to snap at her brother before Sol interjected.

"Wait, Nova," The crimson dragon said, sudden concern laced in her normally calm voice. "Your talons. You're bleeding."

Nova cautiously shifted her gaze down and opened her talons, confirming Sol's observations. Her palms were damaged with a number of small punctures and it didn't take a genius to figure out where the damage came from. She looked at her claws and noticed the tips of the sharp, white appendages were stained with her blood.

"What the hell…?" She mumbled before hissing in pain as a stinging sensation resonated from her wounds.

Orion was prepared to scoff at her vision claim before but now he just stared at his sister, hints of emotion crossing his normally blank face. In fact, for the first time since Tualang had met him, he actually looked… deeply concerned.

"Here, I can fix this. Glad carrying all this stuff around is finally going to prove useful." Sol muttered and opened the bag below her left wing, digging through it momentarily. From what Tualang could tell from his position, the bag was full of basic medical supplies. The dark red cross on the side of the bag made this rather obvious, however.

Nova continued to stare at her talons, her palms covered in the dark red blood that slowly seeped out of the punctures. Was the nightmare really that bad? To that extent, was her vision really so intense that not only did she manage to stab herself in her sleep, but not even wake up as a result? Even if it was minor, such an injury should be pretty painful, right? Well, it hurt quite a bit at that moment, anyway.

As Sol stepped forward with some sort of bottle in her talon, Nova frowned and tried to recall what the nightmare was about. With it being supposedly as intense as it seemed, she thought she would've been able to recall the details of it.

This was not the case.

'Something about a floating island… a blue light… but that's it.'

Suddenly, she was whisked back to reality as Sol poured the contents of the bottle on her palms. Nova hissed in pain as a different singing sensation replaced the original one, the NightWing instinctively clenching her talons (careful not to stab herself again, however) as if trying to shield them from the pain.

"Relax, Nova. That's all there is to that part." Sol flicked her tail and screwed the cap back on the bottle before putting it back in her bag. "It's just disinfectant. The blood will be the least of your worries if those punctures end up getting infected. You don't want me to amputate your talons, do you?"

Nova assumed she was joking at the last part, but the SkyWing got the point across regardless.

"Open your talons." Sol told her, Nova quickly complying with the request. At this, Sol grabbed a roll of bandages from the floor and began wrapping them tightly around her talons, the gauze pressed firmly against the punctures. This area turned a shade of red almost immediately, but Sol continued to wrap until a few layers covered the palm. She cut the bandage from the roll with a claw and secured it together before moving on to the next talon.

"Don't call me a miracle worker for this, by the way. This is just basic first-aid." Sol said as she finished wrapping Nova's other talon, proceeding to put her materials back in her bag before tying it closed. "There. That should take care of it."

"You aren't going to kiss it?" Nova asked, a teasing smirk on her face. "How else is it supposed to work? Everyone knows the kiss is the magic touch. That's what actually causes the scales to heal back together."

"Harr harr." Sol rolled her eyes, but found herself chuckling lightly regardless. "Unfortunately for you, I'm nobody's mother. I believe, as a doctor, I'm not required to kiss every bruise and scrape until then. Besides, you're too old for that."

Nova smiled and rubbed her talons together, looking at the bandages momentarily.

"That's a shame." She mused before a more serious expression came across her face. "Thank you, Sol."

"Blah. Don't thank me. I'm pretty sure things like this are exactly why fate landed me with the rest of you." Sol ruffled her wings uncomfortably, staring at the rug for a few quiet seconds. "But, you're welcome."

Tualang turned to look out the balcony doorway. Though the rain had stopped for the moment, a dense layer of ominous-looking clouds remained in the sky.

"Your nightmare came at a good time, I suppose. It's already morning." He yawned and stretched, popping his back a few times. "We need to get to work today. Now that we're all together, we can start thinking about Event Horizon and how to stop it."

"Works for me." Orion yawned. "How shall we go about this, O' Great Leader?"

Tualang frowned and bit back the urge to snap at him.

"We split up in groups of two. I'll go with someone and question my father some more while the other two look elsewhere in the mountain. Our best bet for finding anything on Event Horizon is the conference room." He looked down and rubbed his talons together. "We still don't really know what it is, what's required to set it off, why Sound and I are important, or where it even happens. If you can get in the conference room, any information is good information."

"The hole in the wall." Sol interjected suddenly, snapping her talons. "That's where Ghost pulled the supposed 'Vegas control scroll' out from. Maybe there are more relics inside?"

"I wouldn't doubt it." Orion mused, flicking his tail, turning his gaze to Tualang. "You said the bracelet Ghost used to give you the vision came from a similar compartment, right? If there were two animus-touched or otherwise magical relics in the same compartment, who is there to say there aren't more?"

"Funny to hear you agreeing with me for once." Tualang said, half-joking.

"Oh, believe me, I still don't want to be here." Orion huffed. "Helping you just happens to get me home a lot sooner. Besides…" The NightWing frowned and tapped his chin. "...Something about this place- about that big NightWing- bothers me personally. I want to stick around until I can figure out why."

"I think all four of us are bothered in some way by Ghost." Nova said, but a look of doubt crossed her face. "Though… I can see where you're coming from. The fact that we've never seen him before, not even once on the volcano, rubs me the wrong way. Besides, he spoke to me like… Like he knew me somehow. How is that possible? If he doesn't associate with the tribe in any way, shape, or form, how does he know me?"

"Wait, what?" Tualang cried in surprise, unable to stop his scales from shifting colors accordingly. "When did this happen?"

"Back when we were first put in the conference room." Nova said quietly, rubbing her forearm with a bandaged talon. "Right after he sent that SandWing after you, he came over and examined us one by one. When he got to me, he looked like he'd just seen the face of someone he hadn't seen in a very long time, someone he cared for deeply. He actually seemed elated to see me and I have no idea why."

"That's not all. After this burst of emotion, he said in his most gentle voice possible, 'Hello, Nova. It is so nice to see you again.'" Nova rubbed her temples uncomfortably. "Not once have I seen this dragon in my life. Even if I were just a dragonet, I would've remembered seeing a light grey NightWing on the volcano. He would've stuck out like a sore talon."

"That doesn't make sense…" Tualang agreed, frowning as he rubbed his snout in thought. "You certainly don't look related to him. No offense, but it's rather obvious to tell."

"He couldn't be an illegitimate father anyway." Orion said with another huff, promptly sitting down on the rug. "When Nova and I were still dragonets, our father was accused by a coworker of being an adulterer. Some scientists did some DNA testing and confirmed that he was indeed our real father, and our mother was similarly legitimate. The accuser was just jealous, probably because we received more food rations that month because I had fallen ill."

The look on Nova's face confirmed this story.

"He's too mature to be a long-lost brother." Sol pitched in, ruffling her wings in thought. "Besides, I've met your parents. If he was related to them, I would be able to tell from his appearance. Scratch 'missing brother' and 'obscure uncle' off the list."

"Can't be a grandfather, either. He appears to be the same age as Sou- err, my father." Tualang observed, whacking his tail against the ground.

The room fell silent as the four dragons failed to come up with any other explanation. Minutes passed before Tualang broke the silence with a defeated sigh.

"Whatever. That's just part of the mystery. Maybe we'll find the answer as we go. For now, we need to focus our attention on the relics and my father. We may find more about Ghost as we dig deeper into Event Horizon."

Sol and Nova nodded, Orion giving his own form of agreement in a bored huff.

"So, who goes where?" Nova asked, standing up. "Two of us to the relics, two of us to Sound. What is our plan?"

"I remember where to look in the conference room. I'll go for the relics." Sol volunteered, flapping her wings. "I don't care who comes with me."

Nova was about to open her mouth when Orion interjected.

"I will. There may be something on Ghost's origin in the relic compartment. This is my chance to find out for sure."

Nova exchanged a look with her brother before giving a halfhearted shrug.

"Looks like Tualang and I are going to talk to Sound, in that case."

The rest of the dragons stood up and began to collect their things. Tualang put his earrings back on and grabbed his bag, Orion stretched, Sol double checked her medical bags, and Nova made sure her bandages were still on tight.

"You said you saw a bunch of words in your vision." Sol noted as she finished her preparations, brushing some dust off her sleek crimson scales. "Anything in particular stand out to you? Orion and I need to know what to look for in the relic room."

Tualang's voice fell silent as he recalled the vision, the words flashing through his memory once again. He had to admit, they were rather hard to forget by this point.

"...Forge. That was the most prevalent word. If you can find anything relating to a 'Forge', that may be the key."

"Forge... Got it. We'll do our best."

Sol and Orion exchanged a look before starting towards the door. Just before they could leave, Sol looked back at Tualang.

"Tua," She called, a slightly uneasy, yet hopeful smile on her face, "Good luck."

Orion said nothing, but gave the large RainWing a nod that probably meant the same.

"You too. Don't get in too much trouble out there, alright?" Tualang said as he and Nova prepared to leave right after the other duo.

Sol nodded firmly, a thin ray of sunlight breaking through the clouds momentarily, shining into the room, and glinting off her beautiful crimson scales.

"You got it. See you later."

With that, they were gone.

Nova nudged Tualang with her wing, the two of them approaching the door. "Let's go. We need to do our job as well. Are you ready?"

Tualang wasn't sure. There was a lot Sound could be hiding from them, but on the other talon, there was a lot they could learn by meeting with the cobalt blue SeaWing again. Tualang could only trust that Sound wouldn't lie about such a serious matter to his own son, the very dragon he spent the past nine years keeping secret from the entirety of the SeaWing tribe, the Faction, and the rest of the continent.

He scoffed at his thoughts. Now wasn't the time for doubt. They had questions to ask.

"Let's go."

The duo stepped out the door, confidently heading into the unknown hive of secrets and danger the Faction had to offer.


	21. Chapter 20: Power

**Chapter 20**

 _Power_

The dim glow radiating from the torches on the wall illuminated the narrow hallway as two dragons casually made their way through the mountain. One was covered with sleek crimson and pink scales, the other a canvas of black, grey, and green. They walked with purpose, blank, yet somewhat serious looks on both of their faces.

"We shouldn't be too far now. If I remember correctly, the conference room was right around this corner here." Sol said calmly, idly glancing around the walls. The tight hallway started to expand outwards as they went, allowing them more space to walk. Seizing the opportunity, Orion drifted away from the SkyWing somewhat, putting comfortable distance between them now that he was able.

"Right. Just be on the lookout for the doors. Judging from what I saw when we were brought into the room before, the doors are pretty telling." Orion furrowed his brow, stopping in place seconds later. Sol stopped beside him curiously and he jerked his head to the right. Embedded into the wall a short distance from him stood a large double-door setup. Trails of gold ran along the trim of the door, trailing inwards to the center and forming a symbol not unlike that which was present on the gauntlets most of the Faction dragons wore.

Neither Sol nor Orion had the chance to examine the symbol prior to that day, but now that they were in front of the doors, they could finally see just what the symbol depicted. Carved into the gold were two dragons. One was easily larger than the other, making it easy to guess the symbol represented a parent and a child. The child rode along the parent's back, one talon grasping the elder dragon's horn, the other raised above them both, holding some sort of object. The duo stood tall, walking- or climbing- up a steep incline. The dragons held no features, but if Sol had to guess, both the parent and child had set their jaws, climbing the incline with a strong sense of determination.

They were pioneers. Even though they were relatively featureless, something about their demeanor reminded Sol of paintings she'd seen depicting post-Scorching Pyrrhia. Given what she'd come to learn about the Faction and Event Horizon, it was reasonable to guess the duo in the symbol moved with the same purpose.

They were the ones tasked with rebuilding.

"Hey, enough staring. We're not here to admire the art. What we need is inside those doors." Orion's voice snapped her out of her slight daze and she took a moment to rub her eyes before nodding firmly.

"Right. Sorry. Let's get a move on."

Sol stepped forward and pushed on one of the large doors, fully expecting it to need the strength of two dragons to move. This was not the case. The door pushed inwards fairly easily, momentarily knocking her off balance. Orion jumped over her and rushed to grab the door, his talons clenching the edge and stopping it in place before it could hit the wall.

"I'd also prefer we didn't let the entire Faction know we're here." He huffed, letting go of the door and walking inside the conference room. Sol snarled under her breath and reluctantly followed him inside, though she was secretly thankful for his quick action. Such a large door, even with how easy it was to move, would've made a terribly loud noise. Ghost- or his soldiers- would've been on them in seconds.

That'd be pretty embarrassing, getting caught so soon.

As she entered the conference room, Sol grabbed the door and slowly began closing it. She may have exaggerated a bit though, taking a little longer once she reached the frame than what was likely necessary.

"Alright, we're in the clear. Where to now? Where did you see the relics?"

Orion nodded at a wall off to the left, near the seven empty spots on the floor.

"Right about there. Somewhere on that wall, there's a weak spot or some sort of hidden compartment. Let's see…" Orion clicked his tongue and made his way to the wall, placing his talons against the smooth stone surface. He started to feel along the enclosure, a small frown gradually growing on his face with each passing moment.

"...It should be around here. I know it's here, I saw it myself."

Sol approached the wall and started helping with the search. Her talons grazed along the stone, feeling for any out of place ridges, but there was nothing. The surface seemed completely smooth in that area.

'Maybe it's something only Ghost can access? Tualang did mention he was possibly an animus, after all. Maybe his scales act as a sort of key.'

'Oh, wait.'

Sol looked up and narrowed her eyes at a particular section of wall above the two of them.

'Well, duh. He's much taller than we are. Of course the panel wouldn't be at our level.'

She spread her wings and lifted herself into the air, hovering around where she assumed Ghost's eye level would be. If he stood in this area and reached directly in front of him, the panel had to be…

The SkyWing slowly moved from the left to the right, carefully feeling over the stone before pausing. Somewhat to Orion's right, she could feel a very faint ridge in the wall. On any other surface it would be too hard to notice, but the contrast between the ridge and the otherwise smooth wall was completely clear. Sol blinked a few times and traced the ridge, placing the side of her head against the wall and knocking the stone with her knuckle. As she suspected, the sound was hollow. There was definitely an empty space behind this section.

"Did you find it?" Orion asked.

Sol held a claw up to her muzzle in a "hush" gesture. She slowly moved along the wall, knocking the stone until the hollow noise faded. She traced her talon from the initial ridge to where the hollow noise stopped, finding another faint ridge. Nodding her head in confirmation to Orion's question, she placed her talons on one side of the cover and pushed.

The rectangular cover, about half the size of a full grown dragon, gave way with ease. The side she pushed on dipped into the hollow section slightly while the other end jutted outwards, allowing Orion to fly up and pull the whole thing away from the wall. He carefully flew back down and placed the cover on the ground, flying up once more and hovering beside Sol.

In the hollow space, the relics. Granted, there weren't very many of them. There were a couple of books, two large scrolls that appeared to be rolled-up maps, a scroll which Orion assumed was the Vegas control spell, a small bag full of small, rounded objects that radiated a faint blue glow, a gold bracelet with sharp green stones embedded into the knuckles, and countless plain silver rings. Pushed to the side, away from the rest of the relics was a large cylindrical glass container. Inside was a thick black cloud, which seemed to shift on its own every few seconds. Sol couldn't tell if it was liquid or gaseous. If anything, it looked like both, the thick black sludge floating and whisping around like a cloud of smoke.

That was… strange, but they had bigger matters to attend to at the moment.

"This may be what we're looking for." Orion said, grabbing one of the two books, this one with the label "EVENT HORIZON" in large, gold letters. The other book's label was blank, but Sol reached in and grabbed it regardless. The two dragons flew down to the ground, Orion placing his book on the ground and opening it. Very quickly, he noticed a problem.

"This damn thing isn't organized at all…" The NightWing growled, flipping through the pages. Though there were was a lot written in the book, Sol could see it lacked titles, chapters, and some pages didn't even have numbers. This was it? Ghost's master plan lie in a book that appeared to have been put together by a two year old?

"Let me see that." Sol said and Orion handed her the book moments later. She started flipping through the pages herself, confirming what she'd seen from watching Orion scan the contents. It was completely disorganized. With a frown, she went back to the start and skimmed through again, repeating this action a number of times.

"What in three moons are you doing?" Orion asked with a huff, watching her with a frown. She narrowed her eyes but kept her gaze on the book.

"Tualang told us to look for the word 'Forge,' right? That's what I'm doing. We can read the rest of the book later, I'm just trying to find that part." It took her a number of attempts but she finally stopped at a page about halfway through the book. Fortunately, this one had a title written in bold lettering.

Even more fortunate, the title was just the word she was looking for.

"Forge," She repeated. "Yeah, this is it."

The SkyWing set the book on the floor, pointing at the title with a claw. Unlike most of the book, the page was actually decently organized and much easier to read. In addition, on the page just after the title, there two drawings. Sol narrowed her eyes and leaned in to get a better look.

The first drawing depicted a mountain. Well, what was left of a mountain, anyway. Most of the mountain had been chipped away, cratering away to make room for a massive ring-like structure. The ring, almost the size of the mountain adjacent to it, stood straight up and was tucked against the gap in the mountain, a large portion of the bottom section dipping below the surface into yet another crater. Upon closer examination, Sol realized that there were two smaller rings tucked inside the first.

She turned her attention to the next drawing, which confirmed this suspicion. In this drawing, all three rings had apparently moved, or were in a constant state of motion, judging by the drawing's poorly depicted motion lines. At the very least, Sol could see the three different rings, one large, one medium, and one small. They fit perfectly inside each other and, in the center of the structure as a whole, there was a small black dot.

Below both drawings, the writing continued.

"Triggering the catalyst for Event Horizon requires an immense amount of power, the level of which not even an animus dragon can produce on his or her own. The structure I have created will allow me to…"

The writing trailed off, but there were other lines scattered about the page.

"Though the creation of the structure may ruin me… I must move forward…"

"In the event my soul is corrupted after the initial enchantments, for the good of my future Pyrrhia, I must not be allowed to survive… Leadership over the mission will be passed down accordingly…"

"The dream must not be lost… Should the aforementioned instance occur, I trust my subordinates will carry out the mission as planned…"

The writing gradually took a more desperate tone as Sol continued reading. There was more writing further down and on later pages, but most of it had devolved into somewhat paranoid rambling. Sol huffed and skipped these lines, turning a multitude of pages before reaching the last one preceding a number of blank sheets.

"It's almost time to set our plan in motion. Petrel has gathered whatever relics he could find from his kingdom, just as I have gathered from mine. I just pray that it is enough. My dear sister, if you are watching me from the afterlife, I promise I will make things right. You paid the price for my failure to protect you. This is my gift to you. I will make a world you would be proud of."

"Petrel is telling me it's time. Forge is waiting for us. Though this day may very well be my last with a clean soul, I promise I will remember you. I love you, sister, with all my heart. Please forgive my failure to save you."

That's where the text ended. Sol blinked and narrowed her eyes at it, scratching her chin with a mix of curiosity, confusion, and surprise on her crimson face.

"I guess Ghost does have a heart behind those cold, grey scales." She huffed with slight amusement, ruffling her wings. "Petrel must be one of his advisers. Judging from what's written here, they're close to causing Event Horizon."

Even as she said it, that didn't sound right. The paper was old and the ink was slightly faded, the opposite of what one would expect from a recently-written passage.

"What do you think?" She asked the NightWing, her gold eyes still fixed on the paper. As she didn't receive a response, she looked up and turned her gaze to him, momentarily worried that he had left the room for whatever reason. "Orion?"

The NightWing was indeed still there. His green eyes were wide, holding an expression Sol had never seen on him before. He looked startled, terrified, and incredibly baffled all at the same time.

'What's his deal?'

"Hey," Sol stepped over to him, shaking his shoulder. "What's the matter?"

Orion swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly turned his head to look back at her, his face pale.

"I don't understand… How is that even…" He began, his voice meek. Sol had never imagined Orion could appear like this. The normally indifferent, emotionless dragon, who never really cared for much of anything, looked absolutely terrified.

"What are you talking about, Orion? What don't you understand?"

"That… that's…"

Finally finding the ability to move again, he slowly lifted his talon and placed a claw just below one of the faded paragraphs.

"That's my handwriting."

* * *

"Yeah, I know what it looks like," Tualang sighed as he and Nova made their way down the hall, heading straight for the boulder that blocked them from entering Sound's quarters. "Dead end. I know. I'm getting this out before you can make jabs at me about it."

"Wasn't planning on it before, but now that you've given me the idea, I'm going to hop at the first opportunity I get next time." The purple NightWing mused, walking with the other dragon before the two of them stopped a couple of feet from the boulder. "Still… How did you manage to get by this thing before?"

Tualang smiled and placed his palm against the smooth boulder.

"It's animus touched. I just have to say the right phrase and I'm in."

He closed his eyes, recalling what he'd said before.

"Please, grant me passage."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the boulder rumbled lowly. He removed his talon, the rock groaning out a loud series of scraping noises as it lifted upwards and vanished into the ceiling above. Nova stared at the spot it disappeared to with a curious scowl before giving a small shrug.

"See? It's easy."

The two stepped forwards, making their way into the artificial cove. As they entered and the boulder fell back into place behind them, Nova had to shield her eyes from the "sunlight." She looked up and squinted, unable to tell exactly from where the light was coming from. That was strange, but yet again, so was a boulder that was able to seemingly vanish into the ceiling.

Were it not for the stone walls adorning the large dome-shaped room, she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between it and a real cove.

Suddenly, something emerged from the water a short distance from the duo. The deep blue water rippled furiously as a large figure surfaced and stepped onto the sand. From where she was, it was easy for Nova to get a good look at the newcomer.

Before herself and Tualang stood a steel blue SeaWing, his bioluminescent scales a deep shade of emerald green, similar to the green on Tualang's typical scale pattern. That was far from the only similarity she noticed, though. One quick look between the two of them revealed a number of similarities. The two dragons shared the same eyes, gills, and despite their difference in tribes, held eerily similar facial structures. Strong jawlines yet a narrow shaped head, smooth, slicked back scales rather than dull, rounded ones, and even the rings around their eyes held similar ridges here and there.

'This has to be him.' Nova thought, stating the obvious. 'Tua's father. Sound. The guy.'

Sound shook himself rapidly, throwing the drops of water off his scales before folding his strong wings against his back. His expression was mostly blank, seemingly in thought until those emerald green eyes landed on the purple and blue RainWing. At that moment, his face seemed to light up like sunlight reflecting off a piece of gold. The steel blue SeaWing ran forward and, before Tualang could react, wrapped his son in a tight hug.

"Tua, what are you doing here? I thought…" Sound let up the hug a little, holding his son by the shoulder and backing up somewhat to examine the hybrid's form. Clearing his throat, he tried to speak again. "Did Vegas hurt you? What about Ghost? Did anyone up there hurt you in any way? When they dragged you out of here, I thought that-"

Tualang shook his head and placed a reassuring talon on the SeaWing's shoulder.

"Dad, I'm fine, trust me. The rest of my… party just happened to show up at that moment. Ghost thought the worst and assumed I was trying to undermine the Faction or whatever." He paused and narrowed his eyes a little, scratching his chin uncomfortably. "...I mean, I am, but I wasn't trying to right at that moment."

Sound stared at him with a strange expression, though he at least looked somewhat relieved.

"That's a relief…" He said with a deep sigh, closing his eyes momentarily. He looked back at his son, the strange expression returning for a split second. "But… do you really intend to take down the Faction? I know things seem… err… not so great right now, but-"

"Why would I not? You're the one who initially warned me about them, after all." Tualang scoffed, flicking his tail. "For the past few days, all I've heard is how the Faction intends to end the lives of thousands of dragons just so they can 'rebuild the world' or 'save the world' or whatever the hell. What reason do I have to not resist, or at least not run as far away from here as possible?"

Sound looked down at the grass, his brow furrowed in deep thought. His wings drooped ever so slightly, and his back seemed hunched as well. He almost looked sad, or at least the very least, hesitant. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Shaking his head, Sound took a few steps to the right, stepping onto the sand and sitting down.

"...It wasn't always meant to be that way." Sound said quietly, his voice finally returning. "The Faction wasn't founded with the goal of ending this world. We were supposed to be benevolent, using our own predictions to influence decisions across the seven tribes, rather than resetting the continent entirely. Ghost, myself, and the five other dragons leading the Faction were supposed to work together for the good of the current world."

"Somewhere along the way, our goals changed. Ghost became infatuated with the idea of resetting the world, believing that was the same thing as saving it. This rubbed some of the other council members the wrong way, including myself. Two council members disappeared shortly after. Though I also became disillusioned with the Faction's cause, Ghost decided to keep me around. Now, there are only five of us in charge, and with a specific chain of command. Ghost, Stratus, Mesa, myself, and Friday."

Tualang and Nova exchanged a look, the two of them following Sound to the shore and sitting down a short distance away.

"At least, it's supposed to be the five of us in command. Ghost assumed control over the entire Faction once the other two council members left. He lost trust in me, so Stratus became his right hand man. Even then, he has almost no influence on Ghost's decisions. Mesa works out of the Scorpion Den, so he's rarely here, meaning none of his ideas are heard. As for Friday, well… she's not here by her own choice. You may have seen her when Ghost called for the meeting after your party arrived. She's almost entirely clad in armor, and she's forbidden from taking it off."

"Yeah, we saw her." Nova spoke up, ruffling her wings. "Why is she like that?"

Sound gave a halfhearted shrug.

"Must've angered Ghost in some way. She's extremely intelligent, so her skills are valuable to him, but keeping her in a prison of her own armor keeps her from acting against his wishes. It's cruel, but… that's Ghost for you. Eliminate those you can't control, control those you can't afford to lose."

He lifted a talon and pointed at the stone dome surrounding the area, a grim look taking shape on his blue face.

"Case in point… this is him controlling me, and his controlling Vegas is the same thing. I suppose he decided the two he got rid of- Peak and Everglade- weren't as valuable as myself. Why he chose to keep me, I still do not know." Sound fell silent and looked back at his son. "...I believe it's likely because of you. I told you before that I never told Ghost I had a son, but he managed to find out regardless. You're exactly what he needs."

"He needs an animus to cause Event Horizon." Tualang finished for him, his expression grim. Sound's mouth opened then closed before he looked down and nodded reluctantly. The RainWing held his expression before it quickly turned to confusion. "However, that means that Ghost himself is not an animus. If that's the case, where did he get all the animus-touched relics from?"

Sound flopped his tail against the wet sand and stared at the saltwater in front of him.

"Some he found during his early expeditions, when the Faction was made up of just a few dragons. The others he created in Forge specifically for Event Horizon. He created the vision bracelet himself, as well as a bunch of silver rings that are supposed to protect his 'chosen' from the actual event. That's how he will ensure the dragons he chooses will survive."

"But," Tualang growled, mainly to himself, stamping one of his talons in the tightly packed sand. "How could he make those relics in Forge without being an animus? Why does he need an animus to cause Event Horizon but not to make enchanted objects from the very same site?"

"Because the whole purpose of Forge is being able to create enchanted objects without using an animus dragon's power or soul. However, I told you before it was also designed with Event Horizon in mind. It all boils down to the size of the enchantment, son. The amount of magic it takes to enchant a small object like a bracelet or a bunch of rings is laughably miniscule compared to how much power is needed to bring about a world-ending event."

"Think about it like this: you're essentially enchanting the entire population to just… die. That type of enchantment would ruin an animus dragon before they could even get the enchantment out. Similarly, the energy required would even destroy something as big and powerful as Forge. However, by stealing an animus dragon's power and mixing it with Forge's own, this isn't a problem. The magic is evenly balanced, keeping Forge intact just long enough to complete the enchantment."

Nova reached a talon forward and was about to scoop up some of the water in front of her but quickly realized that was a bad idea. Her wounds were still fresh, after all. Getting saltwater in her palm gashes seemed like a very bad idea.

"So, in short, animus power as a whole isn't infinite," She guessed, attempting to summarize what the SeaWing had just told the two younger dragons. "Both animus dragons and Forge are able to create things on their own, but when given a truly massive enchantment like Event Horizon, Forge needs that little boost in power to stop it from destroying itself. I guess it's at least a smidge reassuring to know that kind of power isn't limitless."

Sound craned his neck to look at Nova curiously. After a moment or so of examining her, he nodded slowly. "That's right. So if you were wondering, no, Ghost having control of Forge does not inherently make him a god."

"But if he has both Forge and myself…" Tualang said with a frown.

"If it gets to that point, then we can start the god debate." Sound said, rolling his eyes slightly. "But that won't be a problem. Tualang, you need to listen to me." He placed his talons on his son's shoulders again, staring into his eyes with a stern scowl. Hell, it was almost like looking in a mirror.

"No matter what it takes, you need to keep yourself out of Ghost's grasp. You're the only animus he has ready access to. He could very well start Event Horizon tomorrow if he so desired solely because you are here. His animus fell right into his lap."

Tualang stared back at his father, their sightlines almost level due to their identical size. Were it not for his younger appearance and smoother, cleaner scales, one could assume he and Sound were brothers, or at least cousins.

He continued to stare into his father's eyes, a small scowl of his own forming on his purple and green face. Seconds later, he broke the stare and pinched the bridge of his muzzle with a troubled groan.

"God… I wish I never left the rainforest… Had I stayed, none of this would be my problem. I would've been fine carelessly living out my days, oblivious to the impending doom until the time came for us to all just drop dead." He sighed, ruffling his wings in discomfort. "Hell, I would be fine going my entire life without knowing about my animus powers."

'That way, I wouldn't have to worry about all these expectations. I wouldn't have to be anybody's weapon, or anybody's 'last hope.' I could just be the normal, quiet, cowardly Tualang.'

A pang of sadness resounded through his chest and he winced, suddenly feeling sick. His scales shifted to a grim shade of blue, flashes of light green flickering through every few seconds.

'Plus, I wouldn't have to live with the guilt of not being able to save her… My Grapevine is gone forever, and it's all my fault.'

"Tualang." Sound said sternly, gripping the RainWing's shoulders tightly, snapping him out of his momentary trance. In doing so, he realized his scale colors had shifted and quickly stomped out the sadness that had plastered itself all over his body.

"Son, you have something very special that only a very, very small number of dragons can relate to. Your powers may be sought after by those with ill intent, yes, but they are a gift all the same." His expression turned solemn, his voice growing softer. "I know what you've lost, and my heart aches just thinking about it. No dragon should have to go through that. Even still, you need to focus not on the few you could've saved, but the thousands you still can."

Tualang looked his father in the eyes, his own emerald-green orbs full of sadness, regret, and reluctance. His scales changed color again, this time displaying an almost even mix of blue and green.

"Father… the things you're asking me, I'm not the right dragon for the job." He mumbled, looking down. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm not a leader, nor am I a fighter. If you're looking for a dragon to topple the Faction, stop Ghost, and prevent Event Horizon all on his own, you've got the wrong guy. I'm no hero, I'm just the dragon that wants to go home and live a peaceful life."

"Your power," Sound started, grasping one of his son's talons with both of his own. "Is not your greatest gift. Far from it. Judging from what little time we've been able to spend together, I know that much is true. You're thoughtful, smart, empathetic, and have a natural yearning to do the right thing. I know you can't ignore the idea of Event Horizon because your heart is just too damn big. The thought of thousands of dragons dying is something you just can't stomach." He slowly released his grip. "Your heart is in the right place. That is your greatest strength."

"Besides," Nova interjected, standing up and lashing her tail. "Who said you had to do it all by yourself? Myself, Sol, and even Orion are here to help you. We agreed this morning we'd dig deeper, remember? With the four of us together…"

"Five. I'm here, too." Sound spoke up. "I've abandoned my son once already. This is my second chance, my chance to finally do something right."

"With the five of us together…" Nova continued after the steel blue dragon's correction. Her light green eyes softened slightly and she looked up at the ceiling, just below the artificial sunlight. "...We just might stand a chance."

Tualang sat in silence for a moment before finally averting his gaze from the sand, looking up once more.

"I suppose you're right." He said quietly, clearing his throat and standing up, not once letting go of his father's talons.

"So, what's the plan, boss?" Nova asked, nudging Tualang with her wing, a gentle smile on her dark purple face.

Tualang rolled his eyes, carefully shifting his scales back to his typical pattern.

"Well, first things first, don't call me that. I'm only calling the shots for the time being. Someone else is better suited leading the charge. As for our plan…" The RainWing hybrid glanced at his father, squeezing his strong talons gently. He took a quick peek beneath the SeaWing's wing, getting a good look at the royal spiral pattern on his membrane.

He turned his attention to his own wings. He'd never noticed it before, but upon closer examination, he could see an almost identical pattern under his own wings. After a couple of seconds of thinking, his icy blue scales seemed to darken ever so slightly. The result was a slightly darker shade of blue, though his royal pattern was now visible, showing up as lighter blue spirals on his wings. Sound looked at his son's new pattern and gave him a smile of both approval and affection. Tualang smiled back before reluctantly letting go, placing his talons back on the sand.

"We meet back up with Sol and Orion, gather the relics they found," He stuck a claw in the sand, idly tracing it through the surface, a solemn frown returning to his face.

"Then we vanish."


End file.
